Quotations from Scripture and Other Writings on Preaching
Bible Quotations on Healing
Genesis 20:17
Then Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children.
Exodus 15:26
He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and give heed to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.”
Deuteronomy 32:39
See now that I, even I, am he; there is no god beside me. I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and no one can deliver from my hand.
I Kings 17:21-24
Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the Lord, ‘O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.’ 22The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, ‘See, your son is alive.’ 24So the woman said to Elijah, ‘Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.’
II Kings 5:14
So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.
II Kings 20:5-6
Turn back, and say to Hezekiah prince of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of your ancestor David: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; indeed, I will heal you; on the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. 6I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.”
II Chronicles 7:13-14
When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Psalm 30:2
O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.
Psalm 38:3
There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.
Psalm 41:3
The Lord sustains them on their sickbed; in their illness you heal all their infirmities.
Psalm 41:4
As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you.”
Psalm 103:3
who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
Psalm 107:20
he sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction.
Psalm 147:3
He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.
Proverbs 3:8
It will be a healing for your flesh and a refreshment for your body.
Proverbs 4:22
For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.
Proverbs 12:18
Rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Proverbs 13:17
A bad messenger brings trouble, but a faithful envoy, healing.
Proverbs 16:24
Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.
Isaiah 6:10
Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed.
Isaiah 19:22
The Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing; they will return to the Lord, and he will listen to their supplications and heal them.
Isaiah 35:3-6
Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 4Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.” 5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
Isaiah 53:5
But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.
Isaiah 58:6-8
Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 7Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? 8Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Jeremiah 8:22
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored?
Jeremiah 17:14
Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved; for you are my praise.
Jeremiah 33:6-8
I am going to bring it recovery and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. 7I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. 8I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me.
Ezekiel 47:12
On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.
Hosea 11:3
Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them.
Malachi 4:2
But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.
Matthew 8:8
The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.”
Matthew 8:16-17
That evening they brought to him many who were possessed with demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and cured all who were sick. 17This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah, “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.”
Matthew 9:5-7
For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? 6But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” —he then said to the paralytic—’stand up, take your bed and go to your home.” 7And he stood up and went to his home.
Matthew 13:15
For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn—and I would heal them.
Matthew 14:36
and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.
Matthew 15:28
Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
Mark 6:12-13
So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
Mark 16:15-18
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. 16The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Luke 4:18-21
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Luke 5:17
One day, while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting near by (they had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem); and the power of the Lord was with him to heal.
Luke 6:18-19
They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.
Luke 7:22-23
22And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them. 23And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”
Luke 9:1-2
Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.
Luke 9:11
When the crowds found out about it, they followed him; and he welcomed them, and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured.
Acts of the Apostles 4:9-10
If we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, 10let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.
Acts of the Apostles 10:38
…how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
I Corinthians 12:7-9
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
I Corinthians 12:28
And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues.
James 5:14-16
Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
1 Peter 2:24
He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed
Revelation 22:1-2
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
Secular Quotes on Healing
From brainyquote.com, beliefnet.com, about.com, books by Francis MacNutt
Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory.
Happiness is more a state of health than of wealth.
Giving is the secret of a healthy life. Not necessarily money, but whatever a man has of encouragement and sympathy and understanding.
Our sorrows and wounds are healed only when we touch them with compassion.
Good friends are good for your health.
The words of kindness are more healing to a drooping heart than balm or honey.
Nothing is so healing as the human touch.
I think music in itself is healing. It’s an explosive expression of humanity. It’s something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we’re from, everyone loves music.
Writing is a way of processing our lives. And, it can be a way of healing.
All of us use art and literature as an escape from time to time, but if it’s any good, it has a healing quality―a quality that enlarges our human spirits.
Laughter is important, not only because it makes us happy, it also has actual health benefits. And that’s because laughter completely engages the body and releases the mind. It connects us to others, and that in itself has a healing effect.
"The soul is healed by being with children."
As a spiritual person, nature for me has always been a healing place.
The art of healing comes from nature, not from the physician. Therefore the physician must start from nature, with an open mind.
‘Healing,’ Papa would tell me, ‘is not a science, but the intuitive art of wooing nature.’
The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future…but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.
If you do a good job for others, you heal yourself at the same time, because a dose of joy is a spiritual cure.
The power of love to change bodies is legendary, built into folklore, common sense, and everyday experience. Love moves the flesh, it pushes matter around…. Throughout history, "tender loving care" has uniformly been recognized as a valuable element in healing.
Of one thing I am certain, the body is not the measure of healing, peace is the measure.
The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years.
When it comes to my salvation, all I need is Jesus; after my salvation, everything is Jesus plus the church… When people preach that all you need is Jesus, they cut you and I off from one of the greatest sources of healing, which is the body of Christ. Don’t go it alone―you won’t make it.
It’s interesting when you read the life of Christ how much of his time he spent healing the sick. There must have been a reason for that―he was modelling for us what it is we are intended to do by following his path.
The point is simply this: Jesus came to bring us healing (and deliverance) on every level of our being―physical, emotional and spiritual―through the power of the Holy Spirit.
In our culture, Christians are known for a number of other things… Rarely do you hear people say, ‘Oh yeah, those are the people who never stop talking about love. Oh a Christian church―that’s where you go if you feel beaten down and kicked and someone has their boot on your neck. You go there because it’s a place of healing and a place of love.’
One problem I have with faith-healing is that it tends to be focused only on the physical aspect of healing. But Jesus always backed away when people came to him only to get their physical needs met. My goodness, he was ready to have you lop off your hand! His real interest was in healing the soul.
There are so many ways to heal. Arrogance may have a place in technology, but not in healing. I need to get out of my own way if I am to heal.
In all of us there are areas where sickness, sluggishness, and death are at work spiritually, emotionally, and physically. But when another Christian or a community gathers around to pray, the life, the love and the healing power of Jesus can be transmitted to the sick person.
"As practitioners of Healing Touch, we are instruments through which God’s healing energy flows. We address the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions of a person. The word ‘heal’ comes from the Old English word haelen, which means to make whole. Healing involves restoring balance to a person’s mind, body, and soul. An abatement of symptoms may be part of a healing, but healing can occur even if the illness isn’t cured in the physical sense."
The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention…. A loving silence often has far more power to heal and to connect than the most well-intentioned words.
Trying to suppress or eradicate symptoms on the physical level can be extremely important, but there’s more to healing than that; dealing with psychological, emotional, and spiritual issues involved in treating sickness is equally important.
A lot of people say they want to get out of pain, and I’m sure that’s true, but they aren’t willing to make healing a high priority. They aren’t willing to look inside to see the source of their pain in order to deal with it.
Forgiveness does not equal forgetting. It is about healing the memory of the harm, not erasing it.
As any doctor can tell you, the most crucial step toward healing is having the right diagnosis. If the disease is precisely identified, a good resolution is far more likely. Conversely, a bad diagnosis usually means a bad outcome, no matter how skilled the physician.
The most important thing I have learned in the past few years about praying for healing is that usually people are not completely healed by prayer, but they are improved.
My desire to be a physician had a lot to do with that sense of medicine as a ministry of healing, not just a science. And not even just a science and an art, but also a calling, also a ministry.
I have always made a distinction between healing and curing. To me, ‘healed’ represents a condition of one’s life; ‘cured’ relates strictly to one’s physical condition. In other words, there may be healed quadriplegics and AIDS patients, and cured cancer patients who are leading unhealthy lives.
The miracles of the church seem to me to rest not so much upon faces or voices or healing power coming suddenly near to us from afar off, but upon our perceptions being made finer, so that for a moment our eyes can see and our ears can hear what is there about us always.
Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone’s face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love?’ These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and the life to come.
The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world.
Because I’m a doctor, I know when you have an injury it will heal if it’s clean enough to heal; if your injury is dirty, it won’t heal. And so when you are talking in societies, we are also talking in healing processes, and for a good healing process, you need to make things right.
It’s when we start working together that the real healing takes place…it’s when we start spilling our sweat, and not our blood.
The pacifist’s task today is to find a method of helping and healing which provides a revolutionary constructive substitute for war.
Stabilizing the euro is one thing, healing the culture that surrounds it is another. A world in which material values are everything and spiritual values nothing is neither a stable state nor a good society. The time has come for us to recover the Judeo-Christian ethic of human dignity in the image of God.
I see religion as a powerful positive healing force for this nation and the world. But that force is blunted, weakened, compromised inestimably, if we turn religion into a tool for advancing political strategy; if we make it a matter of how to win political office; if we treat it as anything other than a sacred part of life from which we ought to draw sustenance and values and strength for living courageously as good citizens.
The Interfaith Alliance has to become an ongoing sustaining and powerful movement whose interest is to prove that religion has a healing side as well as a killing side, and that democracy is the consequence of conscience.
In our hectic, fast-paced, consumer-driven society, it’s not uncommon for people to feel overwhelmed, isolated, alone, and even alienated. Many are re-discovering the healing and empowering role that community can bring to our lives. The sense of belonging we feel when we make the time to take an active role in our communities can give us a deeper sense of meaning and purpose.
"The power of nonviolence is not circumstance-specific. It is as applicable to the problems that confront us now, as to problems that confronted generations in the past. It is not a medicine or a solution so much as a healing process. It is the active spiritual immune system of humanity."
