How to Receive Healing

2 Kings 5
P. G. Mathew | Sunday, September 17, 2000
Copyright © 2000, P. G. Mathew

Do you want to experience healing, salvation, and wholeness in your life? In this study we will examine how to receive these things. You see, salvation, wholeness, and healing have all been accomplished for us through Jesus Christ, so the question is not how to accomplish them but how to receive them. We only receive the full-orbed salvation offered to us by God by becoming dependent on his Son, Jesus Christ. Receiving healing, salvation, and wholeness by faith is the subject of this study.

Salvation by Grace Through Faith

The Internal Revenue Service Form-1040 asks us how many dependents we have, and we can put all our children of a certain age who rely on us for their food, shelter, medical expenses, school expenses, and other needs on it. They depend on us because all these things that they need come to them from us.

In the same way, salvation, healing, and wholeness come to us from God, but only when we reject self-dependence and depend on Jesus Christ alone. That is what faith is. If a person is not saved, it is because he depends on himself rather than on God. It is a damning thing to depend on oneself for salvation rather than on Jesus Christ.

We are saved by faith alone, not by any of our works. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 2:8,9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast.” And in Titus 3:5 we read, “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.” Mercy is God’s love to miserable sinners. In Galatians 2:16 we read that “a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. No one will ever be healed or saved by trying to keep God’s law. To try to do so is self-dependency. It will never save us.

You may ask, “How, then, can a sinner like me be saved? How can I receive this healing? What must I do to be saved?” The answer is, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” God in Jesus Christ has accomplished healing and salvation for us. The feast is already prepared, in other words. Healing is here, hope is here, life is here, and freedom is here. God has done the impossible through his Son, Jesus Christ.

Creation was by mere fiat. God spoke, and the whole universe came into existence. But in the plan of redemption God himself became man, living, dying, and rising again. The impossible for man-making atonement for his sins-has been accomplished for us by Jesus Christ. It is here. Everything is ready. There is nothing we need to do but to trust in Jesus Christ alone. For us to receive salvation, we must become his dependents and not depend on anyone or anything else, least of all upon ourselves. We must entrust ourselves to him. In Isaiah 45:22 God tells us, “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.” Come to him alone for salvation. Do not look within and do not look to others. Look up to him, to the crucified Christ, and you shall be healed, saved, and made whole.

Self-Righteousness Cannot Save Anyone

Although many thirsty people come to the oasis of God’s mercy, they think it is a mirage and go away without ever drinking. They come to God’s great feast but they fail to eat. They come to the Great Physician and healer of their souls, but fail to be healed. They refuse to believe. They refuse to deny themselves and depend on Jesus Christ alone. They refuse to forsake their own goodness and righteousness and therefore fail to submit to the righteousness of Jesus Christ and be saved.

Let me give you some illustrations of people who saw God’s mercy but did not partake of it. In 2 Kings 6-7 we read of a great siege of Samaria by the Syrian army. There was such a great famine that mothers were killing their own infants and eating them. Then Elisha the prophet prophesied, “Tomorrow at this time there shall be plenty in Samaria.” The officer of King Joram refused to believe Elisha’s words, as we read in 2 Kings 7:2. Elisha told him, “You will see it with your own eyes but you will not eat any of it!.” The man saw the Lord provide abundant food the next day, but instead of eating of it, he died.

In Luke 18 we read of a Pharisee who went from his home to the temple to worship. While he was praying, he told God how great he was, saying that he fasted two times a week, even though the Bible only required him to fast once a year. This man was depending on his own righteousness and goodness for his salvation, but there was only one problem: God was not impressed with his self-righteousness and the Pharisee went home not saved.

This Pharisee came into the very presence of God, yet he was not saved. He came to the feast, to the living waters, to the great physician, yet he went home without eating, without drinking, and without being healed. Why was he not saved? Because he depended upon himself and refused to bow down to God Almighty, who correctly calls us sinners. The Pharisee hated the idea that he was a sinner, but no man is going to be saved without acknowledging that truth. That is why the first word God speaks to us when we come to him is “Repent.”

In Luke 15 we read about the older brother of the prodigal son. There was a great feast taking place in his father’s house, celebrating the return of the younger brother. The prodigal, who had been a terrible sinner, was inside, eating at his father’s table, but the older brother, who said he had never been disobedient to his father’s orders, stayed outside, too angry to go in and eat. This is tragic. But it is always true: the self-righteous never experience divine salvation.

The Story of Naaman

In 2 Kings 5 we find the story of a man named Naaman, the commander of the king of Syria in the ninth century B.C. In this study we want to examine the faith of Naaman and those associated with him, including an Israelite slave girl of Naaman’s wife; King Joram of Israel, a son of Jezebel, an apostate Israelite who would not believe in the true God; King Ben-Hadad of Syria; Elisha, the prophet of God; the servants of Naaman; and Gehazi, the right hand man of Elisha.

Naaman was the field marshal of Ben-Hadad’s army. We are told that he was a great man-a great soldier who was respected by all, including his king. In fact, the Bible tells us that God himself gave victory to Syria through Naaman, probably in the war of Syria against Assyria. But this great man Naaman had one problem: He was a leper.

Naaman represents every son of Adam. Though we are created in the image and likeness of God, though we may accomplish great things, the truth is, all people are lepers. We all are afflicted with an incurable, degenerative, miserable disease that kills us-the disease of sin-and no man is exempt. In fact, the Bible tells us that we are powerless, ungodly sinners. Additionally, it says we are enemies of God. That is how this disease manifests itself. We are an offense to God, a stench to his nostrils.

Man is a leper, a spiritual leper. We can cover it up with all kinds of gay clothing, and we can do many things to manage the perception of others so that they will not recognize how wretched we are, but the truth is, we are all lepers in search of a cure.

Naaman would give anything to secure his healing, but no healing was available in Syria. Their scientists could not heal him, their philosophers failed him, their gods failed him, and their gold failed him. Through his wife’s slave girl, Naaman discovered there was healing available in Israel through the prophet of God named Elisha, whose very name means “My God is salvation.” So Naaman decided to go to Israel to be healed.

Like Naaman, we must be healed, but we cannot heal ourselves. God alone can heal us, and only the God of Israel can heal us. But how can anyone receive healing? We must go to him and trust in him. When we do that, we receive healing.

Again, I want to emphasize that this healing is free. In Isaiah 45:22 we read, “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other,” and in Isaiah 43:11 we read, “I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior.” In Isaiah 55:1 we read, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.” Our salvation is ready and available for us. And in Revelation 22:17 we read, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” Take it! we are told. Salvation is a gift, and faith is what we need to receive it. That is why Paul wrote in Ephesians “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith.”

The Faith of the Slave Girl

Let us, then, look at the faith of these people in 2 Kings 5. First, we read about a young Israelite slave girl who served the wife of Naaman.

This girl was living at the time of greatest apostasy in Israel. Since the days of Solomon and Jeroboam, the Israelites were worshiping idols, and when King Ahab came to power, the apostasy worsened. The vast majority of the Israelites became Baal worshipers, adopting the religion of Ahab’s wicked wife Jezebel. There was darkness everywhere, yet here and there one could find people who loved the God of the covenant and were living a life faithful to him alone. It was of such people God was speaking when he told Elijah in 1 Kings 19:18 that he had seven thousand in Israel “whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and . . . whose mouths have not kissed him.”

This girl was born in northern Galilee to parents who were worshipers of the true God. In fact, I am sure her whole family loved and worshiped God. This young girl, probably thirteen years old or so, also loved the God of Israel. She was saved.

One day the Syrian army raided the border towns of Israel and took a lot of people captive, including this young girl. She was sold as a slave and found herself working in the house of Naaman the leper, the great general of the Syrian army. But notice, because this girl trusted in God, she was the light of the world, and she brought light and hope everywhere she went, including to Naaman’s house of misery and wretchedness. No doubt she had compassion on her afflicted master, and one day she told her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy” (verse 3).

This statement demonstrated the great faith of this slave girl. Elisha had never healed a leper before, even though we read about people being afflicted with leprosy, even in 2 Kings 4. In Luke 4:27 we read, “And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed-only Naaman the Syrian.” For this young girl to tell her mistress that if her master Naaman went to Samaria, the prophet would heal him of his leprosy, showed the great faith she had in her sovereign, almighty God.

This girl was not trusting in Elisha the prophet, but in Elisha’s God, who is quite competent to heal us. Thus, we notice in her speech, there is no “but” or doubt about it: “He would cure him of his leprosy.” That is great faith! Like Daniel, this girl grew up in a home in which the true God was worshiped, where there was daily devotion, prayer, reading and teaching of the word of God. Day in and day out, morning and evening, her family worshiped God. Yes, they lived in pagan Israel, but they loved God.

What about you, parents? Do you have real devotions in the morning and evening, in which you passionately and with great clarity lift up the Savior, Jesus Christ, before your family, so that your children will trust in him alone? If you do that and they trust in Christ, I assure you that your children can live successfully in anywhere in the world because they have vital union with God.

I hope we will all learn something from the great faith of this little girl and her concern for the hopeless ones around her, and imitate her example. What happened when she opened her mouth one day and evangelized the pagan Syrians around her? They believed her and said, “We will go.”

The Faith of King Joram

Next, let us examine the faith of the king, Joram. Joram was the son of the wicked King Ahab and his wife Jezebel, who introduced Baal worship into Israel. Joram knew who Elisha was. He had met with Elisha and spoken to him several times, yet he never trusted in the God of Elisha. He remained an apostate all of his life and had no faith at all.

When King Joram received a letter from Ben-Hadad, which said, “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy,” he was panic-stricken. Heal Naaman! How could Joram heal anybody? He himself was a reprobate.

Although he was an Israelite, Joram had chosen to live a life of unbelief and apostasy. So when Joram received Ben-Hadad’s letter, he became worried and afraid. He knew he was impotent to deal with anyone who would come to him for salvation. Joram had no faith or trust in the God of Israel.

The Faith of King Ben-Hadad

What about Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria? Like King Joram, he also had no faith in the true God, but he did have faith in his own political power. Wasn’t he the king of Aram? Ben-Hadad reasoned that if there was a prophet in Samaria, then one letter from Ben-Hadad to the king of Samaria should take care of it. In other words, Ben-Hadad figured that prophets were subject to the king, not to God. He was sure the king of Samaria would command Elisha the prophet to come and heal Naaman.

Oh, this was the wrong place to put his faith, was it not? Remember, Jesus asked the question, “Where is your faith?” Ben-Hadad was a pagan. He did not believe in the true God.

The Faith of Gehazi

What about Gehazi, the servant of Elisha? We read something about his faith in this chapter as well. As the servant of Elisha, Gehazi was nearest to the man of God, but the tragedy is that he did not believe in the God of Elisha. His entire mind was always thinking about how to make money, how to get olive groves, how to buy cattle, how to build houses, and how to obtain vineyards.

Gehazi’s story is a tragedy that is repeated throughout the history of the church. People may be the children of true Christians. They may even be the children of preachers or elders. They may have gone to the church every time there was worship. They may have grown up going to Sunday School and reading the Bible through and through. But such people can still remain pagans and unsaved reprobates, as was true of Gehazi. He enjoyed a tremendously privileged position close to the man of God, yet it did not benefit him at all. Gehazi had no faith in the God of Israel.

The Faith of Naaman’s Servants

What about the servants of Naaman? When Naaman refused to wash himself in the Jordan, they went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” In other words, they were saying, “Sir, if Elisha had spoken to you to do some great and difficult things, we know a great man like you would have done them. He is telling you something very easy to do. What do you have to lose? Humble yourself and go down and wash in the Jordan River. You have nothing to lose.” I believe these servants had some faith in the God of Israel.

The Faith of Elisha

What about Elisha, the prophet of God? Let me tell you, Elisha was very aware of the fact that he had never healed a leper in his entire life. But when he heard of the distress of the impotent, reprobate, apostate King Joram, he rebuked the king, saying, “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” In other words, “Send this man to me, and I will heal him in the name of God Almighty, the God of the covenant.” These words demonstrated great faith in one who had never healed a leper before. But Elisha believed in the God of Israel. Both Elisha and the slave girl had great faith in their almighty God.

The Faith of Naaman

What about Naaman, this Gentile pagan leper? Naaman, whose name means “gracious,” was probably a very nice, refined person, but initially he refused to believe in the God of Israel. I am sure Naaman was trusting in himself, in his money, in his position, in his reputation, and in his power. Notice what he brought with him when he came to Samaria: seven hundred and fifty pounds of silver, one hundred and fifty pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing. This was a huge amount of money in those days. In 1 Kings 16 we read that King Omri, the grandfather of Joram, bought the hill of Samaria for two talents of silver. But here Naaman was coming with ten talents of silver and two talents of gold as well as expensive clothing just to pay for his healing. (PGM) I am sure he wanted to be recognized by Elisha as a great man and boast to people about how much he had paid for his healing. But Naaman was wrong. No one can buy healing from God.

Naaman went to Elisha’s house with his horses, chariots, and servants, expecting the prophet of God to come out and bow down seven times to him, recognizing him as an important person. He expected Elisha to call upon the name of God, wave his hand over Naaman’s body and do some magic ritual to heal him. At the end he would give him the money and return to Syria as a proud, arrogant man who was able to come and buy his healing.

This is the type of expectation many people have when they come to Jesus Christ. They want to remain as self-dependent, arrogant, self-righteous, and proud as ever. But Elisha did not even come out to greet the great general Naaman. Instead, he sent a messenger to say, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.'”

The Reaction of Naaman

Naaman was shocked by Elisha’s words. First, the Jordan River is thirty miles east of Samaria. He would have to travel the Via Maris, the main highway through that region, to get there. Once he got to the river, he would have to get down from his chariot and wash himself seven times in an Israelite river. What humiliation for this proud man! Not only that, Naaman knew that the Jordan was a muddy river. To get clean water one had to go to Damascus, where the water from the Abana River flows through the middle of the city and the waters of Pharpar River flows just the east of the city.

But Elisha was directing Naaman to go to the Jordan to be healed. In essence, he was saying, “Man, if you want to be healed, you must go down-down to the muddy waters of Jordan and plunge yourself down into those muddy waters seven times-down, down, down, down, down, down, down. Then you will be healed.” In other words, Naaman needed to humble himself before he could be healed.

This was the gospel message of Elisha to Naaman. As I said before, the gospel tells us, “Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe in the one who is crucified on the cross, not on anything or anyone else.” You see, Naaman had expected Elisha to behave in a certain way that would boost his ego, and that expectation was not fulfilled. He expected that Elisha would treat him with great respect and tell him to do some noble task, or ask for a great sum of money to accomplish his healing,so that he could boast about it later. But that is not what happened. Instead, he had to humble himself and go dip himself in the muddy Jordan river. In the same way, if we want salvation from Jesus Christ, the way is down. We must acknowledge our true status as sinners, place absolute faith in the gospel, not in any work or merit of ourselves.

In 2 Kings 5:11-12 we read, “But Naaman went away angry and said, ‘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. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?’ So he turned and went off in a rage.” In other words, Naaman was saying, “This prophet is stupid to say that I can wash myself and be cleansed. It is just not going to happen, whether I wash myself in Jordan’s muddy river, or wash myself, which I have done many times, in the rivers of Damascus. These words are utter nonsense.”

The Foolishness of the Gospel

Naaman’s reaction was similar to the reaction of many people to the gospel. In 1 Corinthians 1:18 we read, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.” And in versed 22-24 we read, “Jews demand miraculous signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” In 1 Corinthians 2:14 we read, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

Let me give you an example of how the world views the things that come from God. If you go to Rome, you will find a first-century graffito depicting a worshiper standing before a crucified figure, with the body of a man and the head of an ass, and the inscription: “Alexemenos worships his God.” That was the way the worldly wise regarded the message of the cross in ancient times and that is how they view it today.

Naaman saw Elisha’s words as pure nonsense. Oh, he would do difficult things to obtain his healing so that he could feel proud. But God demands us to do only the easy things–to trust in him, to rely on him, to be dependent on him. God has already done the difficult things. He accomplished redemption by the death of God the Son.

Naaman Is Healed

Naaman went away angry, but then everything changed. His servants began to persuade Naaman to listen to Elisha’s counsel, and all of a sudden Naaman listened to them and agreed to do what Elisha said. I believe that the Holy Spirit worked in Naaman so that he was regenerated and given faith. Regeneration precedes faith.

As we said before, to receive healing we must have faith, but even that faith comes to us from this great God. All of a sudden, Naaman believed and agreed to do what Elisha said. He traveled thirty miles to the Jordan river and got off his chariot. In humility he probably took off all his regalia, so that everyone could see the leprosy he had been hiding, and then he went down into the muddy waters and dipped himself. He went down one time, and nothing happened; two times and nothing happened; three times, four times, five times and six times-nothing happened. But on the seventh time, when he came up, he was reborn, physically as well as spiritually. The Bible tells us “his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy” (v. 14).

Now Naaman refused to go home right away. Earlier, he walked away in his anger, but now he wanted to see Elisha. Like one of the ten lepers who came back to Jesus Christ, he went all the way back to Samaria to thank Elisha and express his faith in the true God.

No Israelite leper was ever healed by Elisha, but this Gentile leper was healed because he believed in the true God. Wash and be clean! Without faith no man can be healed. Faith must be put in the object, who is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Naaman’s Obedience

Naaman believed and did what Elisha said. In 2 Kings 5:14 we read, “So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times.” This was complete obedience- “as the man of God had told him.” According to the word of God! We must never adjust the word of God; rather, we must be adjusted by it. If you are a child of God and the Holy Spirit is working in you, you will believe the word of God and do what it says.

Naaman’s flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. He was healed! We are reminded of a man who was born blind in John 9. Jesus Christ told him, “Go to the Pool of Siloam,” and after he went and washed, he was healed and could see.

Naaman returned to Elisha and made an amazing statement. In verse 15 we read, “Then Naaman said, ‘Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel.'” When we are truly saved, we will know who the true God is and we will reject all idols. Naaman had been a Baal worshiper, but now he was saying Rimmon of Damascus was no god. “I abandon all gods,” he was saying to Elisha. “Now I am convinced that the God of Israel is the only true and living God.”

Remember what Elijah had told the Israelites on Mount Carmel? “How long will you halt between two opinions? Make up your mind: If Yahweh is God, serve him; if Baal is God, serve him.” There God demonstrated beyond a shadow of doubt that Jehovah was true God. Now Naaman, a Gentile, was confessing the truth as well: there is no other God but the God of Israel. We find a similar statement in John 4 when the people of Samaria said, “This man really is the Savior of the whole world” (John 4:42).

What else did Naaman tell Elisha? In verse 17 we read, “If you will not, please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord.” In other words, Naaman was saying, “Never again I will serve any other god, because all other gods are idols. I just discovered the God of Israel is the only God of the world, and from this day forward I will serve him only.”

What About You?

Even today, the gospel sounds foolish to some people. Think of these directives God gives in the Scriptures: “I want you to kill a lamb and take the blood and apply it on the doorframe and on the lintel, and you will be saved,” or “I want you to make a brazen serpent and lift it up, and everyone who looks to him shall be saved” or “I want you to cut a tree and throw it into this water that is deadly, and it shall be healed,” or, “I want you to give me a bowl, a clean bowl, and some salt and I will throw it into this spring in Jericho, and it will be healed.” I am sure all of these ideas would sound foolish to many people, but they are all pointing to the true God. A dying Messiah is a contradiction which caused many intellectual Athenians to reject the gospel, as we read in Acts 17. “Who was this Jesus, who supposedly died and rose again?” they asked themselves when Paul began to preach about the resurrection of Christ.

What about you? How do you view the gospel? Are you angry at it? Are you so proud and intelligent that you will not bow your head before the great wisdom of God? Do you have your own ideas as to how God should save you? Do you think he should come down and honor you? Do you think that salvation can occur without repentance and faith in Jesus Christ? Do you hope in a different way of salvation, one based on your greatness, your good works, your power, your degrees, your position-a VIP way of salvation?

God’s word to us is “Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” If you are not saved, do you know what stands between you and your eternal salvation? It is your pride, your self-importance, your know-it-all attitude. What stands between you and your healing? Your own self-righteousness. It is time you realized that the Bible is true when it says all men are nothing but clay, mist, flower, wind, vapor, finite, mortal, and sinful.

Think seriously about these things. Are you like Joram the Israelite? He knew about Elisha and Elijah. In fact, he lived next door to the prophet, and yet he was an apostate. Or are you like Gehazi, who was nearest to the prophet physically, yet farthest spiritually? Were you born in a Christian home, the child of a preacher or elder? That doesn’t matter. The question is, have you trusted in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation?

Elisha died and was buried, but now one who is greater than Elisha has come. He is salvation and saves his people from their sins. He is God/man, the Lord Jesus Christ, who died but rose again and ascended into the heavens. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. Even now he rules and reigns. He is here.

How to Be Saved

Jesus came to heal and save us. A leper came to Jesus once and said, “I know you are able to heal me, but I don’t know whether you are willing.” What did Jesus say? “I am willing; be healed,” and the man was healed. John the Baptist sent his people to the Lord Jesus Christ and in Matthew 11:4-5 Jesus told the embassy, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured. . . .”

Jesus Christ is not a prophet-he is the prophet. He is the one who is greater than Moses, greater than Aaron, greater than angels, greater than Elisha. He is God/man, the Savior of the whole world. And the Bible tells us “by his wounds we are healed.” Naaman obeyed Elisha’s words and dipped himself in the Jordan River, but I assure you that mere water did not heal him. God himself healed Naaman. What can wash away our sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Do we have to go to the Jordan River today to be saved? No. Listen to the great invitation of Jesus Christ: “Come unto me, those who are weary and burdened. Every sinner, come unto me, and I will give you rest.” He can do so because he alone is the Savior. And he said if we come to him, he will never drive us away. It is he who demands that we repent and believe on him.

In 1 Timothy 1:15 Paul wrote, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the worst,” and Paul was saved. That is the idea. We must humble ourselves, going down, down, down, down, down, down, down, and tell him, “I am the worst of all sinners.” When we do that, we shall be saved. Jesus Christ is perfect God, perfect man, and perfect Savior of all who trust in him on the basis of complete surrender to him. No negotiation is allowed.

May God grant us the faith of the Israelite girl, of Elisha, and of Naaman. This faith was generated within these people by the Spirit of the living God. May God give us such faith, knowing that it is “by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” May God help us to surrender to Jesus Christ alone this day. Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was raised from the dead. Christ died for our sins and was raised for our justification. The water of life and the bread of life is here. Healing is here, life is here, and salvation is here. May God help us to eat, drink, believe, and be healed. In Jesus’ name. Amen.