Faith and healing naturally remind us of the New Testament and Jesus’ magnificent healing ministry. There are many accounts of healing found in the Old Testament as well. The reality that God heals was basic to ancient Israelite theology and experience. Here are five important lessons about healing from the Old Testament.

1. To be healed, we must submit in obedience to what the healing process requires.
The encounter between Naaman and Elisha (2 Kings 5) vividly demonstrates the importance of complying with a prescribed healing regimen. Naaman, a powerful Syrian general, suffered from leprosy. After all remedies failed, he sought help from the Jewish prophet Elisha, who sent a messenger instructing him to wash himself seven times in the Jordan River where “your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed” (5:10). But Naaman was a recalcitrant patient with rigid ideas about his healing: “‘I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy” (5:11). Naaman also protested Elisha’s prescription by claiming that the rivers in his country were superior to the Jordan. Swallowing his pride, the general fully complied with Elisha’s instructions, and “his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy” (5:14).

Citing that account, Dale Matthews, author of The Faith Factor: Proof of the Healing Power of Prayer, emphasizes that an important aspect of divine healing is the willingness to submit in obedience to what the healing process requires. “Our doctors may ask us to take medicines, to cut fat from our diets, to take up walking as a form of exercise. God may ask us to confess our sins and amend our behavior. We can hasten our healing by following ‘doctor’s orders’ and turning to God with a willing heart.”

2. Our prayers for healing are important to God.
Consider the health crisis experienced by King Hezekiah who “became ill and was at the point of death” (2 Kings 20). He consulted with the prophet Isaiah who bluntly told him: “Put your house in order because you are going to die; you will not recover.” In spite of that foredoomed diagnosis, Hezekiah prayed for recovery: “Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes” (20:3). The answer was almost instantaneous as Isaiah returned with the good news that God would heal Hezekiah and add 15 years to his life.

3. We don’t have to be perfect to receive God’s healing.
Some people believe that only special individuals — those who live holy, spiritual, morally pure lives — can receive divine healing. This is a false and limiting belief. Miriam, the sister of Moses, gossiped maliciously about her brother and was struck with leprosy (Numbers 12). Even though Moses was the target of her unkind words, he offered this urgent, five-word prayer: “O God, please heal her!” She was soon healed. A second account tells of God healing the hand of the evil King Jeroboam (1 Kings 13). It had withered when the king attempted to harm God’s prophet. Recognizing the prophet’s spiritual power, Jeroboam asked him to intercede with the Lord. The man of God prayed and Jeroboam’s hand would be healed. The encouraging lesson is that while God detests our sinful behavior, He is still willing to heal us.

4. It’s never too late nor too hopeless.
Among the stories of the prophet Elijah is the account of a widow’s only son who became ill and “finally stopped breathing” (1 Kings 17). Elijah prayed, “O Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” (17:21). Again, the prayer was answered. No matter what the prognosis, we must remember that it is never too late and never too hopeless to seek God’s intervention.

5. Healing in the Old Testament includes the emotional as well as the physical.
Often the wounds we bear in our mind and spirit are worse than our physical problems.
The Old Testament assures us that God’s healing includes both emotional and physical aspects. In Psalm 40:1-3, the writer speaks of his healing from a time of emotional turmoil:
“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth.” God can be trusted to heal damaged emotions.

Richard Whetstone experienced such an answer to prayer. There was a deep void in his life since he had lost contact with his infant son 27 years earlier after he and his wife divorced. Whetstone turned to prayer during a midweek service. His words were straightforward and simple: Lord, my son is a grown man now. Please just let me know what kind of man Teddy has turned out to be. Anything more than that I leave in Your hands. In fact, Lord, I don’t even know where to start looking for him, so I am truly leaving it all up to You. Amen.”

Four days later Whetstone received a letter with a name and return address he did not recognize. It was from his son, who explained that he had been searching for his father. That letter was one of 47 letters Teddy had written to Richard Whetstones all over the country. The elder Whetstone noticed that the postmark on his letter was dated Wednesday, the day after his Tuesday night prayer. Father and son were joyously reunited and maintain a good relationship.

The next time you are inclined to think of divine healing as an exclusively New-Testament phenomenon, remember this: Shortly after leaving their bondage in Egypt the Israelites received this divine promise: “I am the Lord, who heals you” (Exodus 15:26). Healing is part of God’s nature, as both Testaments proclaim.