Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION Context The Problem The Fact of Failure CHRISTIAN BELIEFS WITH REGARD TO SICKNESS AND HEALING Sickness and its Purpose in Suffering The Source of Sickness and Disease Was Jesus ever Sick? Healing in the Atonement Does God deal with Injuries differently than Sicknesses and Diseases? How does God Heal? The Healing Ministry of Jesus The Spiritual Gift of Healing Healing Prayer CHRISTIAN HEALING PRACTICES Services for Healing Public Prayer and/or Declaration Pentecostal Approach James 5 FACTORS THAT HINDER SUCCESS Too Great an Emphasis on Prayer? Lack of Personal Responsibility Geographical Impact Healing Hindered by Wrong Attitudes Lack of Prayer When it is God's will not to heal Summary CONCLUSION Our Obligation to Heal Pastoral Issues Not the End ADDENDUM The Great Decommission The Giver of the Gift Some Events from Church History Renunciation and Repentance

About the Author

Paul Shields is a graduate of Queens University Belfast and serves in his local church as an elder and a worship leader. He is a popular speaker at both church and business events. In accordance with his engineering background, Paul believes in a God of order who has followed, and continues to follow processes in His creation, including the way He heals. Paul is married to Beulah and they have a grown-up family and grandchildren.