Why doesn’t God answer my prayers for physical healing? In Matthew 21:22, He promised when we pray in Christ name believing, He would grant us whatsoever we ask for.
Answers to Bible Questions
Scriptures are from the KJV of the Bible
(Q) Why doesn’t God answer my prayers for physical healing? In Matthew 21:22, He promised when we pray in Christ name believing, He would grant us whatsoever we ask for.
(A) Many, many people have been puzzled by this question. A lot of people have lost faith in God, because it seems that He does not keep His Word. Why would God make such a promise in the first place?
First of all, I want you to know God always keeps His promises! If prayers are not being answered, then maybe we are at fault! Maybe there is a good reason God is not answering our prayers! Maybe there is something we don’t understand!
I will quote Matthew 21:22 that you mentioned above, and four other verses dealing with this same subject:
“And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive,” Matthew 21:22.
“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it,” John 14:1314.
“But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee,” John 11:22.
“And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you,” John 16:23.
“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you,” John 15:7.
These five verses above seem to state very clearly that if we ask anything of God, He will provide it. So how can it be that our prayers sometimes seem to go unanswered?
In order to help you understand about unanswered prayer, I need to explain a few things about the Bible that 95-98% of people calling themselves Christians, do not understand. The Bible can be a confusing book if you don’t know how to properly study it.
One of the first things we need to know about the five verses quoted above is; WHO WERE THEY ADDRESSED TO; JEWS OR GENTILES? The whole Bible is about Jews and Gentiles, so it makes a big difference who these five verses were written to.
If you know the answer to the above question, then it will help you understand why some prayers go unanswered.
What I am going to show you in this article, is the fact that when people pray to God, thinking they can claim the promises that were given to Israel, the Jewish nation, their prayers will go unanswered. You see, today, the church called the “Body of Christ” can only claim the things given to Paul. Paul is the Apostle to the Gentiles, and the revelations given to Paul came from the risen Christ Himself, after His crucifixion, and His ascension back to heaven. Paul says in Romans 11:13: 13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: Paul was a chosen vessel by Christ to preach a new message to the Gentiles; read Acts 9:1-16.
Look at what Paul says in Ephesians 3:1-9: 1For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, 2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: 7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. 8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; 9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
When Christ came to earth as a human man, He came only to the Jewish nation of Israel, not to the Gentile nations.
Look at what Christ told the twelve Apostles during His ministry on the earth: Matthew 10:5-8 5These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
Matthew 15:21-24 says: 21Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
What most people do not understand is that there are two different programs in the Bible. One is an earthly program given to the Jewish nation of Israel, and the other program is heavenly, given by Christ, to our Apostle Paul, to give to us, the “Body of Christ,” Ephesians 1:3-5: 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us (The Body of Christ) with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.
Philippians 3:20-21: 20For our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: +21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
According to II Timothy 2:15 we must learn how to “rightly divide” the Word of truth: 15Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
“Right division” means we need to separate the earthly program, from the heavenly program. The earthly program is all about keeping the law, and the heavenly program is all about grace. Grace and law do not mix!
The earthly program begins with the calling of Abram, (later called Abraham), the beginning of the Jewish nation of Israel. This earthly program runs from Genesis 12, all the way through the Bible to the book of Acts. The book of Acts is what we call a transitional book from law to grace or from the earthly program to the heavenly program given to our Apostle Paul. Grace or the heavenly program given to Paul runs from Romans through Philemon. The books after Philemon, Hebrews through Revelation, revert back to the earthly program which is again about law keeping.
The earthly program, under the law, given to Israel, was temporarily put on hold two thousand years ago because of Israel’s unbelief, and it has been superseded by the heavenly program of grace, given to the Apostle Paul.
What this means is this: No one today or anyone who has lived for the last two thousand years can claim any promises given to Israel, the Jewish nation. Any promises given to the Jewish nation of Israel, DO NOT APPLY TO THE GENTILE NATIONS! Christ said several times as I have shown you above in this article, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
In Acts 28:27-28: we read what Paul said to the Jews by inspiration of the Holy Spirit: 27For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
Read Romans 10 & 11 to find out more about the reason God set the nation of Israel aside.
The whole message to Israel fits in with a physical salvation, a physical demonstration. The miracles of signs and wonders are limited to certain time frames when God was introducing something different in human history. Signs and wonders and miracles did not happen all the time. That was not the norm in God’s dealings with man.
Healing is always used to confirm what God is doing. In Israel’s program, healing accompanies the message from God. The message was preaching the “gospel of the kingdom.”
Matthew 4:23: And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
Matthew 11:1-5: 1And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities. 2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, 3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? 4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: 5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
Healing is a Part of the “Kingdom Message” (an earthly message given to Israel only) and under the law.
God tell the Jewish nation of Israel in Exodus 15:26: 26And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee. The Egyptians were Gentiles.
One of the first covenants God made with Israel was a healing covenant.
Isaiah 35:1-6: 1The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. 2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God. 3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. 4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you. 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
This was a promise of the coming kingdom. Israel was aware of what the kingdom was to include. In Exodus 15, they knew if they obeyed His laws, they would have healing. In Ezekiel, when the kingdom comes they were told about the new covenant and God’s laws written in their heart and they would keep God’s ordinances. Isaiah confirmed that message in Isaiah 35. So when a man came that could heal it meant something to Israel.
Matthew 4:23-25: 23And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. 24 And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. 25 And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.
Notice it says that Jesus healed all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. He had told His disciples that greater works shall they do. Matthew 10:5-8: 5These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as ye go, preach, saying, the “kingdom of heaven” is at hand. 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
Jesus sends the twelve to go out and do the same thing, freely you have received, freely give (the power to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils). That is what Peter and John gave to the lame man at the temple gate.
Why Healing Is Important To Israel
There are two places in the universe, heaven and earth. God creates Adam and puts Adam on the earth and gives him dominion of the earth. God gave Adam a body that was made to function on the earth, not the heavens. Adam was not given a body that could function in the heavens; his body is to function on the earth.
We, as descendants of Adam, have a body that is equipped for the earth. Our body is stained with sin, it is mortal and it will die.
A physical body is important to those who will function on the earth. The subject of the prophets is the establishment of a kingdom on the earth. From Adam until the raising up of the Apostle Paul, the subject has been a kingdom on earth
Daniel 2:34-35: 34Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
Jesus in His earthly ministry told His disciples to pray for the Kingdom to come. In Matthew 5:5, Christ said: Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. This verse in Matthew is part of the Beatitudes given by Christ while He was on the earth, and It was given to the Jewish people of Israel. The earth is going to be the inheritance of all the saved people under the earthly program. Again, the “Body of Christ” members shall inherit the heavens: Philippians 3:20-21: 20For our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: +21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. You will not find any earthly blessings anywhere in the Apostle Paul’s writings for members of the “Body of Christ” under the heavenly program.
If one is to be in an eternal kingdom on the earth, even for 1,000 years, one needs a body that will last. For Israel, the healing of the body is so important is because the body is the vehicle they will use to rule and reign with Jesus.
Healing for the members of the “Body of Christ” is not as important as it was for Israel under the earthly program. Our bodies will be changed for us to take our place in the heavens.
1 Corinthians 15:40 : 40There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
1 Corinthians 15:49-51: 49And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
Even if we do not die, our body will need to be changed. For Israel, if they are alive when the kingdom comes, the curse will need to be taken off because they need the terrestrial body. But members of the Body of Christ need to have a changed body. There is no purpose for God to heal our body today in this dispensation of grace because our bodies will be changed. This physical body is not the issue for us as it is for Israel.
So Then, Why Did Paul Do Miracles?
Acts 15:12: 12Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.
The audience in Acts 15 is the nation of Israel, the Jews require a sign. The miracles confirmed that Paul was from God and had a message that was from God. It told the nation of Israel that God was now working among the Gentiles , (Israel now set aside).
Romans 15:18-19 : 18For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, 19Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
Reason for the Miracles Wrought by Paul
Romans 11:11: 11I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
The Jews were seeing all the blessings among the Gentiles; the purpose was to make them jealous enough to want what the Gentiles were receiving.
The miracles went to the Gentiles because that is also where God gave Paul a new message to preach.
Romans 11:13-14: 13For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: 14 If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.
Paul’s hope was that Israel would realize that they had missed the mark, and receive their salvation like the Gentiles. In times past, a Gentile had to become a Jew in order to be received from God. Now, a Jew has to become like a Gentile.
Why We Do Not Need Confirmation Today by signs, miracles, and healings.
Today, we have the completed Bible, therefore, the need for confirmation had gone away. In other words, there are no men today coming forth with a new message from God. Therefore, there is no new message that needs to be confirmed with healings and signs and wonders.
What’s the bottom line for the members of the “Body of Christ” today, concerning healing?
Even though God does not promise healing today like He did for Israel under the earthly program; He still does heal if it is HIS WILL AND PURPOSE TO DO SO! He can, He has, and will continue to grant healings today, but He makes no promise to do so under the heavenly program which we are under. But, let’s look at some very encouraging words that Paul wrote by the inspiration of God to the “Body of Christ” in Ephesians.
Ephesians 3:14-20: 14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.
God can grant us anything above all that we can ask or think if it is His will. When we pray for something, we should always end our prayer by saying, not my will, but thy will be done.
Go to Him as a child to a loving parent and just trust Him to do what is best for you, and accept His decision. You will not be disappointed.
May God grant you the healings you seek!
Maranatha (Lord Come)
John
So my child is dying of cancer, I pray for her survival day and night and worship at the alter, she dies anyway, and I shouldn’t be disappointed? Really? God doesn’t answer my prayers, my precious child dies and I should be okay with that? It’s stunning to consider how much cognitive dissonance it takes to believe this hogwash.
Everyday thousands of children suffer a brutal, miserable, painful death as they starve to death, and that’s god’s will and we shouldn’t be disappointed. God is sending some kind of obscure message that we can’t understand.
Ever notice how everything good that happens in the world — no matter how mundane — is credited to god’s grace, but whenever anything negative happens, we attribute it to god’s mysterious ways or the force of devil. If god is omnipotent and omniscient, why would he allow a child to be raped, brutalized, and murdered? You can’t have it both ways.
Really, it’s stunning how completely ignorant and compliant one must be to buy into this absurd crap.
What a Crock,
I am replying to your comment you made to me back in April 2021 about healing. I am very sorry your child died even after you prayed day and night. You did not say how old she was at the time of her death. I can tell you this in confidence. God knows why he allow your daughter to die.
If she did not reach the age of accountability, then she is in heaven in peace with God. If God would have allowed her to live to the age of accountability, maybe she would have been an unbeliever and died at a later time in life as an unbeliever. Anyone who dies in unbelief will end up in hell. Everyone is a sinner in God’s eyes and the only way to have our sins forgiven is by believing in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ at Calvary two thousand years ago.
If this would have been the case with her, then God would have known about it, and because you were praying for her, God allowed her to die so she could go to heaven because she had not yet reached the age of accountability. In this case God saved her spiritually, but you were disappointed because she died a physical death at an early age. Which of these situations would be better for your daughter?? Or is this still as you said, What a Crock.