Divine Healing by L. J. Otis

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 18, 1907

Divine Healing

By L. J. Otis

L. J. OTIS, M. D.

At this time there are many claiming divine power in healing the sick. It is therefore important that we recognize the principle involved, and thus be enabled to distinguish between the false and the true.

There is such a thing as divine healing, for we are asked in James 5:14, 15, to pray for the sick. And in 1 Cor. 12:9 healing is spoken of as one of the gifts of the Spirit. In Luke 9:2 it is made equal with the preaching of the gospel: “And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.”

But though we may be sent out to heal the sick, every case, as you shall see, is not one for divine healing. Sickness is often the result of sin; and ought we to pray for the cure of sickness in order that one may continue in his sinful course? In “Healthful Living,” paragraphs 1020 and 1021, we read: “Some if they should regain their health would indulge in some heedless transgression of nature’s laws.” “We should first find out if the sick one has been withholding tithes or has made trouble in the church.” And in paragraph 1026 we read: “God will not work a miracle to change natural causes which you can control.”

Thus we see that connected with the praying for the sick should go a complete adoption of the reformatory truths which we possess. The Lord is anxious to heal us, but will not perform a miracle to do that which we could and should do ourselves.

A little consideration will show that everything can not be a proper subject for prayer. The writer remembers hearing Evangelist Wm. Sunday’s baseball story, in which just after his conversion he was playing baseball, and the decisive catch of the game fell to him, and as he ran, he prayed that the Lord would help him to catch the ball. And he said: “The Lord did, and we won the game.” But could the Lord do so? Are we at liberty thus to make him partner to our selfishness?

In this case the Christian spirit would have been to pray for defeat, to save the humiliation of his fellows on the opposite side. There is a great deal in the world at the present time claiming to be divine healing that in no wise corrects the habits of the individual, but allows him to pursue his sinful course. Such is, of course, a system of false healing.

By this system cures are apparently wrought; for Satan has power to suspend, in certain cases, the symptoms of disease, and in others, by the action of the mind on the body, we see the sick leave their beds. Some are suffering from imaginary sickness, and some from so-called functional nervous disorders. Over such cases Satan has power, but not over any case requiring creative power. Satan can not create.

At the time of the San Francisco earthquake, there were a number of apparently miraculous restorations to health. Some who had not been able to walk for years, jumped out of bed and ran out into the streets. Just such cases Satan is accumulating all over the land as material for some of his false systems of healing, or perhaps for himself to heal, when he appears as an angel of light.

In these cases there is no organic disease, but for some reason the mind has lost control, and, although the person would, he can’t. But there are cases of paralysis that nothing but the power of God, either directly or through the natural healing processes of nature, can cure. Some examples of these, as spinal sclerosis or neuritis, might be given.

God expects us to do our part. This includes the use of rational remedies; everything that might appeal to one’s reason as being proper, such remedies as common sense might dictate, at the same time avoiding harmful habits in dress and diet; placing the mind in harmony with God’s truth, and living up to the requirements of the Scriptures; the exercise of faith, which banishes depression and acts as a general vital stimulant, greatly supplementing our other efforts.

Any one placing himself in harmony with these requirements, and asking God to heal his malady, may expect to be cured if it is God’s will. But we are to hold on by faith. If not cured immediately, we are to continue steadfast, not allowing our faith to waver. “Sometimes answers to prayers come immediately, sometimes we have to wait patiently and continue earnestly to plead for the things we need. . . . If our petitions are indited by the Lord, they will be answered.”—“Healthful Living,” page 210. “Jesus can limit the power of Satan. He is the physician in whom the sin-sick soul may trust to heal the maladies of the body as well as of the soul!”—“Testimonies for the Church,” page 205.

Grand Rapids, Mich.