How The Early Apostles Received The Healing Power of God

I wrote about divine healing in previous articles, emphasizing that God did not end healing the sick with the foundational apostles. He still heals, and I am a beneficiary, having been set free from a severe affliction between 2016 and 2018. 

In several books of the Bible, especially in the Gospels and in the book of Acts, we read about Jesus Christ and the apostles being used to heal the sick. The three and one-half years of Jesus’ public ministry was characterized by spectacular healing of sick people.

Now, it happened that after Jesus Christ had healed a man possessed with a legion of demons in the country of the Gerasenes, and  raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead in Luke Chapter 8, Jesus saw the need to empower His 12 disciples to heal too.

“And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal” (Matthew 9:1-2).

Different Christian ministers, today, may narrate different ways in which they received the healing power of God. For example, the late Evangelist A.A. Allen wrote about how he received the healing anointing through intense prayers with fasting in his closet.

However, Luke, in the verses above, tells us about how the foundational apostles received the healing power and authority. They did not pray and fast for it. They did not give money or sow any seed for it. And they did not tap it from any man of God they subjected to. 

In Luke 9:1-2, we read about the fact that Jesus saw the need for the continuity of His healing ministry and the demonstration of divine power to honour God’s name. He, thus, purposely called all His 12 disciples together. 

He, then, selflessly and sovereignly gave them power and authority. Power is the ability to control, and authority is the right to control. Thus, Jesus Christ, out of His own sovereign will, gave the earliest apostles divine ability and right over all demons and to cure all diseases. 

After giving these things to the apostles, Jesus Christ saw it fit to send them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal” (Luke 9:2). You see, the power and the authority were to be used to preach about the gospel of God’s kingdom and to heal sicknesses and diseases.

In obedience to the commands of the Lord, the disciples  “…departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere” (Luke 9:6).

Now, what price did the apostles pay or what special thing did they do to qualify them to receive divine healing power? As already stated, there is no indication of them praying and fasting for it or tapping it from a man of God in Scripture. 

This does not mean prayer and fasting do not release divine power into the life of believers. They do. After Jesus had fasted and prayed for 40 days and nights, He returned in the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:14) to begin His public ministry.

Thus, Luke, again, writes, “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him” (Acts 10:38).

However, the apostles did not initially receive divine power as an answer to their prayers and fasting. They received healing power because Jesus sovereignly entrusted it to them.

On their part, the disciples lived in daily obedience, followed Jesus’ teachings, and submitted to His training.

In other words, they built a strong, unalloyed relationship with Jesus, followed Him every day, listened to His teachings everyday, meditated upon His Word everyday, acted on His Word everyday and obviously demonstrated genuine willingness to exercise divine power and authority for the glory of God. 

Likewise, God still gives healing gifts to believers today—freely, graciously, and according to His will. Our part is to abide in Christ, obey His Word, cultivate intimacy with Him, and desire to glorify His name.

In the next article, we will consider the importance of prayer and fasting in sustaining the gift of healing power and authority in the lives of believers.

By James Quansah