Heart belief comes first – then the power – and finally the miracle.

A few years ago I had meetings at a place in Northern Norway. During the day, I was invited out to have dinner at a restaurant. While we were sitting there eating, I saw a woman sitting at a table just across from us. She looked over at me with interest. As she went out, she came over to the table where we sat and said: “I see who you are. I have pain in my shoulders and need prayer.

The woman wanted me to say a short prayer for her in passing. Normally, I would have done it, but this time I felt like testing her faith. I smiled kindly at her and said: “This evening at 6 PM we are holding a healing meeting at the community hall. Welcome to attend, and I will pray for you.”

The woman was probably a bit disappointed. She did not come to the meeting. Her faith didn’t run deep enough. It wasn’t alive, only ‘traditional’ - doing it the way we usually do it. She wasn’t willing to fully devote herself to her own healing. It was built on a good idea - but it wasn’t a matter of the heart for her. She wasn’t ready for her healing. ‘With the heart one believes unto righteousness.’ (Romans 10:10)

The same was the case with the cripple at the pool of Bethesda. He had been sick for 38 years and had come to a place where a multitude of sick people were waiting for an angel to stir the water (John 5:1–9). Whoever stepped into the water first would be healed, regardless of what disease he suffered from. The cripple’s problem was that he never got there first. Besides, he had no one to throw him into the pool when the angel stirred the water. There was always someone else who reached the water before him. In the end, faith was replaced by a spirit of self-pity: “Others always succeed, but not me. God doesn’t love me. It must be God’s will that I am sick,” the man probably thought. Layer upon layer of self-pity.

A thought crossed my mind: Why didn't he sit on the edge of the pool? Then he wouldn’t have needed anyone to throw him into the water. Did he really want to get well – or did he want to collect ‘poor me’ stories?

Faith drowned in a sea of negative thinking that had built up after 38 years of suffering, trial, and error. Before Jesus could heal him, He had to shake off that terrible spirit from him - the spirit of self-pity: “Do you really want to get well, or are you just looking back at the times you didn’t make it? Shake off the spirit of self-pity and get on your feet, man! RISE UP, take your bed and walk!” (John 5:8)

Jesus’ challenging words brought his apathetic, slumbering faith to life: He dared to act on Jesus’ command alone and suddenly experienced life in his whole body! “And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.” (John 5:9)

Why haven’t you been healed? It might be good for each of us to do some cleaning in our own heart relationship with God, checking the foundation of our faith. What is it built on, God’s promises ALONE or a mixture of negative religious feelings and negative personal experiences? Is it heart belief alone - or are there spiritual blockages present? I said to the woman: “Come to the meeting at the community hall tonight at 6 PM.” She didn’t come. The faith was too shallow for a miracle to have happened at the restaurant that Sunday afternoon. It simply wasn’t alive.

It’s not about how much faith one has, but whether the faith one has – is it alive? Do you truly want to get well? Surrender yourself completely to Him so that the channels of faith for God's power can be opened - and a miracle can happen!

Heart belief comes first – then the power – and finally the miracle.

Svein-Magne