Healing and The Mindset of Winning

The question we might ask is, “What motives do we have in our heart that compels us to wage this war?”

Our words reflect the intentions and motives of our hearts; “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

When our words declare victory over the enemy, it reveals that at least one of our motives is victory itself. Let me say that a different way; for some of us, victory itself is the reason we’re in the battle.

One problem with being motivated by victory is that we see the battle in terms of “winning and losing”. If we see someone healed, we declare that we’ve ‘won’. If they aren’t healed, what do we declare? Defeat.

For some of us, defeat is unthinkable. Jesus already won the victory at the cross and the enemy has been beaten and will never be victorious. If one takes this view, the entire ‘winning and losing’ mindset shouldn’t apply to healing. There is no ‘losing’ in our warfare. Every battle is a ‘win’.

Another problem with the ‘winning and losing’ mindset is that it requires us to make a judgment call about our success in healing. If we see evidence that healing has taken place, we declare victory. If not – we either conclude the person wasn’t healed or we take a ‘wait and see’ position.

Having followed up with a number of people who showed no immediate signs of healing, I can testify to the fact that some of the people you’ve prayed with will show complete healing 10 minutes after you leave. Some will manifest healing an hour later, and some in 2 or 3 days. Knowing this, I’ve developed a strategy where I tell them I believe they are healed whether they feel anything or not and advise them to believe the same thing. The point is – if you approach healing from a ‘win or lose’ perspective, you’ll be convinced you’ve lost a lot of battles that you actually won.

Another problem with seeing healing in terms of winning and losing is that you’ll inevitably go through times when no one seems to be healed. It happens to everyone. If your motivation is victory and you aren’t seeing it – you’ll be tempted to quit altogether, because it’s just not worth it anymore.

As I thought about this issue, one last thing came to mind. Jesus was motivated by something other than winning. The bible says “He saw the multitudes and had compassion on them” not “He saw the multitudes and desired victory”.

Compassion and love were the things that motivated Jesus. They should be the things that motivate us. Every time we pray with a stranger – the goal is to demonstrate the love and compassion of God toward them. If they are healed – great…let us rejoice. But if they aren’t or if we aren’t certain they were healed, we’ve still demonstrated love and compassion if not the power of God. I’ve prayed with hundreds (perhaps thousands) of people who showed no signs of healing. Every encounter was a blessing to the one I prayed with and none of them were a loss for our side.

Most of the motives we have for healing the sick are good ones. Some are better than others. Love is the best motive of all.