Blocks to Healing

It may not be enough just to pursue the right things; some wrongs things may have to be removed. Sometimes healing and/or deliverance may be blocked from going forward by one or more of the 33 Biblical blocks to healing. We would be wise to pay attention to what our Great Physician is telling us.

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight." Matthew 3:3 ESV

Clear the Way for the Lord!

Sometimes healing and/or deliverance may be blocked from going forward by one or more of the following: [1]

1) Un-forgiveness:

Bitterness is a root that can cause both dis-ease and disease and is a major block to healing.

"Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you." Luke 6:37-38

2) Ignorance or lack of knowledge:

It is a great trap to think we know all that we need to know - who then can show us the way? But bondage reveals that a vital element of knowledge is missing.

Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge; their honored men go hungry, and their multitude is parched with thirst. Isaiah 5:13  

3) No relationship with God according to knowledge:

God is interested in a relationship with us that is based upon what He has revealed to be true about Himself and that is intended to go beyond mere lip service by us.

And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." Mark 7:6-7

4) Personal and family sins:

Sin separates from God. This can block the healing we desire to receive.

Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. Isaiah 59:1-2

5) Not having faith in God:

To believe in God is one thing, but to believe in that truth that God would have us believe, even when it runs counter to our feelings, may be the freeing thing.

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. Hebrews 4:1-2

6) The need to see a miracle:

It is better to not see and believe than to demand a personal touch from God.

Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." John 20:28-29

7) Looking for signs and wonders:

It is better to keep seeking Jesus, than to chase after signs and wonders.

So Jesus said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe." John 4:48-49

8) Expecting God to heal on one's own terms:

Preconceived ideas about how things ought to go, can block His leading of us.

But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, "Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper." 2 Kings 5:11

9) Looking to man rather than to God:

There is much that doctors can do, but if the disease is spiritually rooted, we need to be seeking God to heal and restore us, not just the doctors.

Thus says the Lord: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. Jeremiah 17:5

10) Not being honest and transparent:

Pride and fear will tempt us to cover our sins, rather than offer them for ministry.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. James 5:16-17

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2-3

11) Flagrant sin or habitual sin:

Here it is not the sin, so much as the hardening of the heart to continue it without repentance, that makes such sins a block to healing.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Romans 6:1-2

12) Robbing God in tithes and offerings:

The promise of the tithe goes beyond mere material blessing - as does the curse.

You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:9-11

13) Some are just not saved:

God heals many without conversion, but for some it may be the essential healing in order to break the power of the delusion that is blocking them from seeking the One who is Truth.

And with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12

14) Sins of our parents:

It is not God's desire that we remain under the consequences of our own or our fathers' sins, but that we would take responsibility and renounce them.

You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:5-6

15) Sometimes the sickness is unto death:

The "wages" of any sin is death, but some sins may be the root from which a terminal illness develops. Repentance may be more effective than prayer for healing.

If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life - to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. 1 John 5:16-17

16) Our allotted time in life is fulfilled:

If a person has lived beyond the allotted years, it may be their time has come.

The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Psalms 90:10

17) Looking to symptoms and not to the Healer:

The symptoms of the disease are the fruit of the problem, not the root. Deal with the root issues, turn from the symptoms and keep looking to God.

"Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other." Isaiah 45:22

18) Letting fear enter your heart:

Fear will quench faith; faith will drive out fear. Choose which will rule you.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27

19) Failure to get away in prayer and fasting:

Prayer and fasting are primarily to meet God, secondarily to receive from Him.

He said to them, "Because of your unbelief. For most assuredly I tell you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. But this kind doesn't go out except by prayer and fasting." Matthew 17:20-21 WEB

20) Improper care of the body:

Even in the service of Christ, we need to regard proper care of our bodies.

So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. Philippians 2:29-30

21) Not discerning the Lord's Body:

The holiness of the Lord's Supper requires that we deal with sin issues, especially with others in the Body of Christ, seeking renewed communion with them also.

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. 1 Corinthians 11:27-32

22) Touching God's anointed leaders:

If we have anything to say against God ordained leaders, we need to speak it to them in love and seek to heal division rather than promote it.

He allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account, saying, "Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!" 1 Chronicles 16:21-22

23) Immoderate eating:

Good nutrition, moderation and exercise promote health for the body. It is presumptuous to think we can do whatever we like with our bodies and be well.

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Philippians 4:5 KJV

24) Unbelief:

Unbelief kept the children of Israel out of the Promised Land and even blocked the healing ministry of Jesus. Faith believes in God and in His Word. Even a little unbelief can block the release of an active faith.

And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. Mark 6:5-6

25) Failing to keep our life filled up with God:

To walk in freedom and health, we need to stay filled with the Spirit. The enemy will always return to check us out to see if we are seeking God - or temptation.

Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you." John 5:14-15

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 5:17-21

26) Not resisting the enemy:

To call on the Name of the Lord and to keep calling is one way of resisting the enemy. Without such resistance in prayer, God's work may be hindered.

For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:13

27) Just giving up:

It is important to never come into agreement with negative pronouncements - as is they were the final word. Let God's love and power have the final Word.

Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die." Job 2:9-10

28) Looking for repeated healings instead of divine health:

God's perfect will is not simply to heal us, but to lead us into such a life of devotion to Him that are hearts are free of the issues that destroy health.

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. 3 John 2

29) Rejecting healing in the atonement as part of the covenant for today:

If we don't believe that healing is for today, then it likely won't be for us today. Yet Jesus not only bore our sins at the cross, His stripes are for our healing.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 1 Peter 2:24  

30) Trying to bypass the penalty of the curse:

Seeking to escape the disease/addiction (the consequence or penalty of the curse) without dealing with the root cause(s) is short-sighted and likely to be unfruitful.

Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight. Proverbs 26:2

31) Murmuring and complaining:

An ungrateful heart murmurs and complains against God's ways of working.

We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 1 Corinthians 10:9-11

32) Hating and not obeying instruction:

Despising correction and hating instruction are signs of rebellion against God.

And at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed, and you say, "How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof! I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors. Proverbs 5:11-13

33) Involvement with the occult - past or present:

The occult can be both a root of affliction and a block to healing and deliverance.

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. Ephesians 5:11-12

Next Healing Essential

The Bible on Diet and Health  Healing and health are separate, though related issues. When our bodies break down, naturally we want our health back, but isn't there a way to stay in health and avoid physical illnesses in the first place? Indeed there is - and the Bible has a lot to say about it! What it also has to say about diet may surprise you, but who understands what's healthly to eat better than the One who created both food and bodies?

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 Endnotes