Are the "Gifts of Healings" for today??

Are the gifts of healings for today? It is a gift i really desire more than any other and have prayed for but have not received. I don't understand what good it does for me to have a heart of compassion and mercy when i am powerless to help any of the suffering people around me. There are so many people suffering so greatly. Such extreme suffering.
Has anyone here ever seen any evidence that this gift is still for today? And/or could it be that if a person has even an OUNCE of pride that God will not give them certain gifts because it would go to their head? Although if that is the case, what explains the preponderance of tongues, though it is the least of all the gifts? Thank you for your consideration and thoughtful comments on this matter.

Trekker: In short, yes. All nine gifts of the Spirit listed in 1 Cor. are for today. I have seen most of the nine gifts in operation. There are a couple of truths about the gifts of the Spirit that I think it is important to note.

The gifts are given "severally as He wills". I do not believe that a gift of the spirit is anything at all like a "gifting" that a person has resident in his person. I may have a gift for music and can play music well. That gift is resident in me. I do not believe the gifts of the Spirit are the same. God may at some point us me in the gift of prophecy. That does not mean I am a prophet or that I can prophecy all of the time. I have been used in the gift of the word of knowledge. It was a blessing and strength to the person who I ministered to. But I do not walk around having "words of knowledge" all of the time for the gift is not resident in me. However the Holy Spirit is resident in me and He can use me in any of the gifts as He wills to minister to others.

The gifts are used out of the compassion and love of God. Of this I think you have an understanding. We are told to covet earnestly the best gifts, but then we are told immediately the proper motive behind that strong desire to be used in the gifts of the Spirit.

I personally believe that one must have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit before they are used in the gifts. The gifts are supernatural. They are not operations of our own mind, will, and emotions. It was the Acts 2 experience that filled the church with supernatural power. Before that time they had operated supernaturally as Jesus had empowered them to do so, but in a very limited manner. But when they had received power after that the Holy Ghost was come upon them they began to walk routinely in the gifts of the Spirit.

Hope that helps.

According to Hebrews Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever.

According to the 4 gospels, He healed ALL who came or were brought to Him. He was hindered by the UNBELIEF in one account where He only healed a few "sick folk".

We should base our belief system on the Word, not our experience.

Go for healing all the time every time and do not give up!\\

Russell

KK wrote:
People make these claims... that God wants to heal every disease and illness (as long as we have enough faith, thats the escape hatch for when it doesnt happen!)... but they dont think through what they are saying.

I also believe that the sick rarely have faith (now wait...) I say that because they are so sick. I don’t believe that it’s necessarily the sick person’s fault for not being healed. I think of the sick friend in the Bible, his friends had faith FOR HIM. And Christ healed him because of THEIR faith.

I don't understand all the details of what goes into being healed but I know even if I have the gift of healing, I am NOT the one doing the healing, God is. That is why I would never attempt to go through the hospital laying hands of everyone praying for their healing; this is where people get messed up... healing is a gift but God is definitely the healer.

I also think that sickness goes much deeper than just a cancer cell or an infection and that we must be careful what we say to the sick and discouraging them. And it's up to us, who are healthy, who must seek God’s will for those when they can’t for themselves.

God bless,
Lisa

I can understand where you are freind. Is the gift of healing still for today? The gift of healing is a spiritual gift that God gives to whomever he wants. This doesn't mean that this gift is going to be prominate in their ministry all the time. The next time they minister they might have another gift instead of healing.

I believe your real question may be falling under the heading of can I receive healing from God? Then I will tell you that yes healing is for you, here's why.

God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. His word will never change, "Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but Gods word will never pass away".

By who's stripes were you made whole? Jesus's stripes.

(qoute): "It is a gift (I) really desire more than any other and have prayed for but have not received. I don't understand what good it does for (ME) to have a heart of compassion and mercy when (I Am) powerless to help any of the suffering people around me.(/qoute)

When I re-read this again, the Holy Spirit pointed this out to me, re-read what you wrote above. Do you see the (eyes.. I)It is a gift that you desire why?
Whhether God ever gives you a spiritual gift or not you should always have a heart of compassion and mercy.

If I were you I would seek love. Love is the driving power of all the gifts. You can't love with out Christ in you.

i wonder if the gifts are as you mentiond not something that can be done all the time as you say with the gifts of healing

why is it most toung talkers practice the gift of praying in toungs whenver they will and recieve the edafication accoringly ,,but it is not the same for healing you say

is that a contradiction ,,in the way gifts operate

i believe in the gift of prophecy ,to proclaim gods word to a body of believers , even to predict future events for edafiction ,,,and if a prophert is mature and right in the site of god ,he will operate with this gift verry regular even daily or weekly ,,does not the gifts of healing operate like this as well in certaint gifted healers

and im not talking about beni hinn,,

Brother,

I have personally witnessed healings and have been healed myself. There are many fine Christians that are going home prematurely as a result of sickness and disease. If we know that it is God's will to heal, and there are many scriptures that support this belief, then we can pray in confidence to God, knowing that if we ask anything that is according to His will that He hears us. Faith is not some magic formula. It is not mind over matter. It is just taking God at His Word.

Since God's will is to heal the sick because Jesus did only what He saw His Father do, and a great part of our Lord's ministry was healing and deliverance, then we have to ask the question: why are we not seeing more healings today when it is desperately needed? The problem is not with God but it is with us.

If we had to be perfect before God gave us a spiritual gift, then His grace would be based on our performance and not on the finished work of Christ. The Spirit of God disepenses the gifts as He sees fit, but the Word does say that we should desire spiritual gifts. Yet healing is not only a gift but is a privledge for every believer to participate in, because the Word says that "believers shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover." This is not some special class of Christian but is available for all believers. If we would have more child like faith then I beleive that we would see more healings.

Mike

QUOTE: " because the Word says that "believers shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.""==ABIDEINHIM

And yet no one was able to lay hands on Paul and heal him of his thorn in the flesh, and Paul also had to leave Trophimus sick at Miletum. (II Timothy 4:20), unable to heal him.

Thankyou for many thought-provoking and interesting comments on here.

QUOTE: "I personally believe that one must have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit before they are used in the gifts."==TWAYNEB

You have not explained what you mean by this statement. Am i right in assuming you mean an EXTRA filling of the Holy Ghost, aside from just what we receive at the moment of salvation? A special, greater filling which equips a person for MINISTRY? And does this happen only when i am perfect enough to be used in ministry or only when i have enough faith for God to trust me, or ?? Someone made the comment that we don't receive the gifts based on our performance, yet most Christians can't even get prayers answered precisely because of their sin (aka performance). So i think performance DOES enter into it; i highly doubt God is going to give the gift of prophecy to a Believer who suffers greatly from the sin of pride or some other besetting sin, for example. Can you just imagine what someone beset with pride would do with the gift of prophecy, or healing, or miracles? And i've seen a lot of pride in the church, including pastors. I think pride is ALWAYS near, trying to trip us.

"And yet no one was able to lay hands on Paul and heal him of his thorn in the flesh, and Paul also had to leave Trophimus sick at Miletum. (II Timothy 4:20), unable to heal him."

Brother,

How are you sure that Paul's thorn in the flesh was a sickness or disease? The Word of God says that this thorn in the flesh was a messenger of Satan to buffet him because of the many revelations that he had received to keep him from being exalted but always looking to the Lord to receive His grace to overcome.

Mike

Hi Trekker,

You wrote:

You have not explained what you mean by this statement. Am i right in assuming you mean an EXTRA filling of the Holy Ghost, aside from just what we receive at the moment of salvation? A special, greater filling which equips a person for MINISTRY?

While I can't speak for twayneweb, I do beleive this is what he was referring to. It's explained in Acts 19:

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when[a] you believed?”

They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”

“John’s baptism,” they replied.

4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues[b] and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

These men had already repented, yet something was lacking in their life and Paul asked them a simple question "did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?", they were honest and said no.

And does this happen only when i am perfect enough to be used in ministry or only when i have enough faith for God to trust me, or ??

It happens when you believe the the Lord is good and in being good He wishes to share Himself with people who ask, well the Lord said it better than I ever could:

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! ~Matthew 7:1

QUOTE: "Brother,
How are you sure that Paul's thorn in the flesh was a sickness or disease? The Word of God says that this thorn in the flesh was a messenger of Satan to buffet him because of the many revelations that he had received to keep him from being exalted but always looking to the Lord to receive His grace to overcome. Mike "==ABIDEINHIM

What is your point? Whether sickness, disease or affliction it was physical and Paul ASKED FOR HEALING from it. The original statement to which i was referring with this topic was the statement that Christians can be healed by the laying on of hands, etc.

You have not explained what you mean by this statement. Am i right in assuming you mean an EXTRA filling of the Holy Ghost, aside from just what we receive at the moment of salvation? A special, greater filling which equips a person for MINISTRY? And does this happen only when i am perfect enough to be used in ministry or only when i have enough faith for God to trust me, or ?? Someone made the comment that we don't receive the gifts based on our performance, yet most Christians can't even get prayers answered precisely because of their sin (aka performance). So i think performance DOES enter into it; i highly doubt God is going to give the gift of prophecy to a Believer who suffers greatly from the sin of pride or some other besetting sin, for example. Can you just imagine what someone beset with pride would do with the gift of prophecy, or healing, or miracles? And i've seen a lot of pride in the church, including pastors. I think pride is ALWAYS near, trying to trip us.

On the day of Pentecost the 120 in the upper room had already put faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ. Their rebirth was accomplished. Yet they were to wait until they were endued with power from on high. It was the power that Jesus said in John was with them but would be in them. Later in the book of Acts, Paul ministers to a group of believers and asks if they had received the Holy Ghost since they believed. These believers were then baptized in the Holy Spirit, a distinct work apart from salvation.

I think when someone says that we do not earn the gifts it is in the sense that we do not do anything to merit being used in a gift. For example, "I have not told a lie for three years and I have read by Bible regularly so surely I qualify to be used in a gift of the Spirit." This is a very different thing from understanding that God will use someone that He can trust and that has positioned themselves by becoming useable.

Finally, I would like to interject as concerning Paul's thorn. You seem to make the assumption that it was a sickness or physical ailment of some sort. I don't believe, if we study scripture carefully, that we can make that assumption. Paul says the thorn was a messenger (angelos) of Satan sent to buffet him. This would be demonically inspired persecution rather than physical illness, especially given the context of the statement. Not that I am dogmatic, but I think scripturally it is more likely to NOT be sickenss than to be sickness.

As to why some are not healed even though I believe it is God's will that all be healed. We can ask a parallel question and perhaps answer the question. Why, when God desires that none should perish but that all should have eternal life, are there those who are not saved? Could it be that faith is one key element? Could it be that there are other reasons why someone might not receive healing?