Faith for progressive healing

The story of the healing of the centurion's servant in chapter 8 of the Gospel of Matthew concludes in verse 13 like this:

And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; let it be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment.

The ESV translates this poorly here, as the Greek actually says "And the servant was healed in that hour" (καὶ ἰάθη ὁ παῖς ἐν τῇ ὥρᾳ ἐκείνῃ). This suggests that the healing happened over a short interval of time, but not instantaneously. Examples of progressive healing (where healing progresses over a period of time) can be found in several other stories involving Jesus. See for example Mark 5:1-20 (especially verse 8) and of course Mark 8:22-26 which is the most well-known example. 

Ingrid and I have ministered healing in progressive fashion to a number of people over the years. And also to each other! Here are two recent examples which, to me anyways, helps clarify the nature of the faith that's involved in such praying for healing.

Healing a rash

Not long ago I began to see an rash on my right upper thigh. Thinking it might be jock itch, I applied an anti-fungal ointment that I had used with success in the past. I kept applying this for a week, but the rash began to spread further down my thigh. 

Worried this might be a recurrence of a severe case of poison ivy that I had experienced about five years ago (I thought this could be the cause as I had done a little yard work a few days before the rash appeared) I tried applying cortisone cream several times a day to try and reduce the redness and relieve the itch. But the rash continued to spread.

Soon it became uncomfortably itchy and small bumps appeared. This worried me as I thought it might be a recurrence of hives, something which has plagued me from time to time since my teenage years. In the past they had occasionally gotten so bad that my doctor had to put me on prednisone, but my doctor had recently retired and I've been unable to find a new one I've felt confident about. So I began taking Reactine which has been my standard way of treating episodes of hives. But the rash kept spreading further until it appeared under my knee and on the back of my calf.

Now I was getting worried. 

Sensing my worry, Ingrid said "Let me pray for it." She laid her hands on my leg and prayed, first in words asking the Lord to heal the rash and then in tongues. Then she said, "I rebuke fear in Jesus' name." 

Suddenly I thought, "That's it, I'm afraid. Fear is the Enemy's tool, and he uses it to destroy. I won't let him use his fear against me." And I started to relax. I felt confident that, without fear oppressing me, we would get to the bottom of this problem and it would be healed and go away.

And the next day, the rash began to fade. 

A week later there was no more burning sensation, though the skin where it had been was still somewhat red. Then I gradually weaned myself off Reactine over a two-week period. (They say its formula is non-drowsy, but it does have negative effects on your emotions, or at least on mine anyways.) Several months have now elapsed since Ingrid prayed for me, and the skin on my right thigh still looks slightly darker than on my left thigh, but they say that fungal infections (which it may have been) can lead to permanent changes in skin color. 

But I'm healed.

Healing a swollen ankle

More recently, Ingrid noticed that her left ankle had become swollen. We tried to figure out why. Could it be several days of gorging on pastries at a German bakery we had discovered recently? Maybe too much sugar triggered something with her blood sugar. And the left side of your body is connected with the heart, right? We weren't sure however what the cause was, but we were getting quite concerned as the swelling didn't go down as the days passed. 

So one morning I said, "Let me pray for it." Clutching her ankle with both my hands, I prayed "Swelling be healed in Jesus name." But nothing seemed to happen. Then I rose to put my hands on her chest and back, but she said "It's not my heart." 

She went back downstairs, and I thought, "Well, I guess I didn't have enough faith to see instantaneous healing happen, but I think I do have enough faith (maybe a third of a mustard seed) to believe that her swelling can be healed progressively. 

The next morning Ingrid came and found me upstairs in my study and said, "Look, the swelling is less." I looked at her ankle, but it still seemed somewhat swollen to me. "No, it's definitely less." OK, we'll wait and see. 

And the next day it definitely did look like there was less swelling. And a week later, both her ankles look exactly the same as far as I can tell.

And we've laid off eating sweets for a while :-)

[NOTE: This article was previously published on our site six months ago in early June 2024 and since then her ankle has had no swelling. --Mitch]

Conclusion

The lesson here, as I see it, is that as Jesus says in Matthew 8:13, healing happens "as you have believed." That is, the degree of healing power God gives us can depend on the level of faith we have that God is going to heal. So even if you don't have faith to believe that the person you're praying for will be healed instantaneously, you may have enough faith to believe that some degree of improvement will happen in the person's condition. 

That's all it takes to see someone (or even yourself) healed when you pray for them to be healed. Just a smidgen of faith, along with the patience to see it realized over time. 

Be blessed, and be healed.

--Mitch