When was the last time you attended a "healing service," or have you ever? I remember, a while ago, attending a new church service and the pastor offered healing, afterwards, to anyone who would come forward and receive it. A friend of mine attended the service with me and had the faith to go forward to be rid of a nagging knee problem that he had from an old athletic injury. (If I would have gone forward, talk about old athletic injuries! He would have spent the day praying over this old body.) My friend still has the knee injury. Maybe it was because of his lack of faith, or maybe God wasn’t in a good mood that day and just didn’t want to heal him? Or maybe it was not a valid, biblical expectation to have of God. It’s amazing how we all want to be healed of something.
The above healing service wasn’t like the one held in Jesus’ day, previous to Mark 1:44, where Jesus performed yet another healing miracle (The person was actually healed.), yet didn’t want it advertised. There would be no mass marketing to advertise the amazing powers of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus didn’t endorse radio and TV ads proclaiming His miraculous powers. He didn’t even 
create a website and start a virtual church. He told the man that had been cured of leprosy to hush up now, or was it a little stronger admonition? After everyone found out Jesus was the real deal when it came to healing others, He could no longer stay in towns and speak in synagogues, because people would flock to be healed and the crowds were simply getting too big (lest we forget the 10,000 people on the hillside for the fish and chips dinner).
My first thought is - why wouldn’t Jesus want this man to go be a blabbermouth? Free advertisement. Think of the crowds Jesus could draw. Eighty some percent of people who attend your church service are invited by members. There would be more people to hear the message. The bigger the crowd, the more opportunities for people to be saved. While we might think so, Jesus knew better (Jn 2:24-25). Jesus’ mission was to preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God. If crowds descended on him to see miracles accomplished, or to benefit from his power, they would not be
create a website and start a virtual church. He told the man that had been cured of leprosy to hush up now, or was it a little stronger admonition? After everyone found out Jesus was the real deal when it came to healing others, He could no longer stay in towns and speak in synagogues, because people would flock to be healed and the crowds were simply getting too big (lest we forget the 10,000 people on the hillside for the fish and chips dinner).My first thought is - why wouldn’t Jesus want this man to go be a blabbermouth? Free advertisement. Think of the crowds Jesus could draw. Eighty some percent of people who attend your church service are invited by members. There would be more people to hear the message. The bigger the crowd, the more opportunities for people to be saved. While we might think so, Jesus knew better (Jn 2:24-25). Jesus’ mission was to preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God. If crowds descended on him to see miracles accomplished, or to benefit from his power, they would not be
coming with the heart attitude needed to hear and respond to the gospel. They would just be seeking to have a physical need met through healing, instead of the much more important need of being healed spiritually. Jesus did not come to this earth to be a miracle worker in a sideshow. He came to save our souls.
How often do we pray for physical healing when, in reality, it is a cleansing of one’s soul that needs to take place? When I preached in Long Island, NY, the state medical facility (I believe in Suffolk County) invited clergy to participate in a group of meetings where the health officials not only entertained the thought, but actually believed, that some mental illness (like March Madness?) could be attributed to demon possession or oppression. These medical professionals were more progressive in their theology than preachers were in the churches back then. They realized maybe what some of these people needed wasn’t physical healing (aka, more meds) but actually needed to be spiritually healed to be cured of this dreaded physical disease. 
Can you imagine if we actually started believing more and more that He is the Great Physician?
In Mark 5:34, we read about Jesus healing the woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years. The doctors couldn’t fix her with all their methodologies. The word “healed” in the Greek actually means "saved." Here both physical healing ("be freed from your suffering") and spiritual salvation ("go in peace") are meant. The two also appear together in Mark 2:1-12 and 3:1-6. To be both healed physically and spiritually at the touch of Jesus! He would be the only one someone could touch and accomplish this feat. I take that back. The first century apostles also performed such twofold miracles. We need to understand and comprehend that spiritual healing was part of the process of being healed, not just a physical healing. Oftentimes we are supportive of missions or people that just meet the physical needs of individuals without addressing the true need - spiritual healing. Jesus is shows us an example where both types of healing need to be done for a person to be truly healed.
So how do we go about overcoming acedia in this area of our lives and in our churches? I think we need to get back to the priority of preaching the Gospel for salvation. We need to realize that what a person might need first is to be freed from sin, before we can address their physical needs. I am not advocating we forget about their physical needs. It’s just that I believe Satan has convinced us that if we just meet their physical needs they will be okay and become interested in what we can offer them for their spiritual needs, and we wind up investing too much in the former and neglecting the latter. But, no one is truly okay unless they have accepted the Good News and are truly healed spiritually! This has to be what God's people are to be about, first and foremost.
Can you imagine if we actually started believing more and more that He is the Great Physician?In Mark 5:34, we read about Jesus healing the woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years. The doctors couldn’t fix her with all their methodologies. The word “healed” in the Greek actually means "saved." Here both physical healing ("be freed from your suffering") and spiritual salvation ("go in peace") are meant. The two also appear together in Mark 2:1-12 and 3:1-6. To be both healed physically and spiritually at the touch of Jesus! He would be the only one someone could touch and accomplish this feat. I take that back. The first century apostles also performed such twofold miracles. We need to understand and comprehend that spiritual healing was part of the process of being healed, not just a physical healing. Oftentimes we are supportive of missions or people that just meet the physical needs of individuals without addressing the true need - spiritual healing. Jesus is shows us an example where both types of healing need to be done for a person to be truly healed.
So how do we go about overcoming acedia in this area of our lives and in our churches? I think we need to get back to the priority of preaching the Gospel for salvation. We need to realize that what a person might need first is to be freed from sin, before we can address their physical needs. I am not advocating we forget about their physical needs. It’s just that I believe Satan has convinced us that if we just meet their physical needs they will be okay and become interested in what we can offer them for their spiritual needs, and we wind up investing too much in the former and neglecting the latter. But, no one is truly okay unless they have accepted the Good News and are truly healed spiritually! This has to be what God's people are to be about, first and foremost.
