If you are around people who pray, you have heard people asking for prayer about healing. “Someone is sick, pray that they will be healed.” “Tell as many people as you know to pray.”

And yet, in spite of all that praying, there are still sick people. There are still people dying.

It is a challenge for the followers of Jesus. Why some, not others? Why were you healed and I wasn’t?

And then we look to the Bible for the rules, for the guidelines.

In Matthew 8, we read three specific healing stories.

“If you are willing. ”
“I am willing.”

“You can do it at a distance.”
“Look at this faith.”

[Jesus sees a sick woman]
[healing]

[bringing people]
[healing]

So what are the principles? What can we learn that will help us get healing every time we ask? (Because that’s our goal, right?)

1. Jesus doesn’t have to physically touch, but sometimes he does.

2. A specific request isn’t always given, but sometimes it is.

3. When there is a request, it isn’t a formula.

4. It can be the sick person, someone else, or no one asking.

5. Many people can know about the request or no one can know.

6. The problem may be disease, an injury, or a short-term illness.

7. The social status of the requester doesn’t matter, though all three stories have people who, in that society, were at the margins  (leper, gentile, servant, woman)

So how do we summarize this?

Jesus heals who he wants to, when he wants to, where he wants to, how he wants to. But he heals. And it doesn’t hurt to ask. And he really likes confidence, not in his ability to be amazing, but a confidence that he knows what he is doing.

While it’s not about how many prayers, he’s open to requests.