God's Power to HealSample

Obstacles to Healing

It’s important to realize that there are laws that govern healing. God makes it clear that we have to be willing for Him to work in our lives. We have to remove the masks we hide behind as well as the filters we use to distance ourselves from Him. We have to face the spiritual obstacles that are within our power to remove in order for God’s Spirit to work freely in our lives and bring about healing. If our relationship with God is not in order, then we get in the way of our own healing. We must be willing to be healed and able to align our hearts and lives with the Holy Spirit. 

Keep in mind, too, that the devil wants you sick, broken, and wounded. He wants to take you out and leave you limping instead of walking by faith and running in the power of your Redeemer. This is the power Jesus won for us through His death on the cross and resurrection as He defeated sin and death once and for all: “Jesus of Nazareth was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit and with great power. He did wonderful things for others and divinely healed all who were under the tyranny of the devil, for God had anointed him” (Acts 10:38, TPT). 

God’s Word outlines three deterrents to our healing: unforgiveness, unbelief, and unrepentance. Forgiveness is inherent to how we relate to God and to others. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus instructed us to pray, “Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us” (Matt. 6:12, NLT). Because God has shown such great mercy and amazing grace to us in the midst of our sinfulness, we are to share it with those around us. When we refuse to forgive others, we are basically elevating our standards above and beyond the grace and mercy of our perfect Holy God! When we refuse to forgive ourselves, we are doing the same thing and allowing our pride, guilt, shame, and fear to paralyze us.

Similarly, our unbelief applies to how we live our lives as much as to what we believe. In other words, do we walk what we talk? It’s not only our own doubts that get in the way of God’s healing presence and power in our lives, but it’s also the doubts of others. The unbelief of those around you can become as contagious as the COVID-19 virus and infect your thinking with doubts, worries, and anxieties. Your relationships reflect what you believe and reveal how you practice your beliefs. 

When you harbor sin in your life and refuse to surrender it, you create an infection that blocks the divine flow of God’s healing power: unrepentance. Instead of admitting your sin and turning back to God and obediently following His ways, you follow your own path. Even after you have been saved by the blood of Christ, if you refuse to follow Him and obey God, then your rebellion becomes a barrier to all that His Spirit wants to do in your life. You can’t be healed unless you follow the Holy!