A Miracle Received Through Faith

And they were preaching the gospel there. And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked. ---Acts 14:7-10


That crippled man had never taken a step in his life. Then suddenly, he was leaping and praising God! How did that happen? He received through faith. But first, the man had to believe that what Paul said was truth. He heard with his physical ears, but that hearing deposited a belief in his heart or his understanding. Scripture says, “The man heard Paul speak.” What did Paul speak? Verse 7 says, “And there they preached the gospel.” Gospel means good news! Paul was giving good news, the man heard, and he believed!

You hear some people say, “We don’t preach healing around here, we just preach the Gospel.” That’s amazing. When Paul preached the Gospel, people had faith to be healed! A person can’t preach the whole Gospel without preaching healing.

“This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed…” Paul was speaking, but also watching the audience. The scriptures indicate that Paul saw the man had faith. Faith is belief with action. My personal opinion, because there is no detailed account, is that when Paul looked at this man, the man was doing something that indicated to him that he not only believed, but wanted to test what he heard. The man hadn’t taken a step yet, but I believe he was pulling out his legs, placing them in position to stand. When Paul saw him working with his legs, he commanded in a strong voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” Immediately he jumped up and leaped and walked.

It isn’t right to say to someone, “Well, if you had faith, you’d be healed.” Sometimes people just haven’t come to the point of stepping out and acting on their faith to get results. Their belief has to be built stronger. The man in this story believed what he heard. There was an atmosphere created by the words of the Good News and he had someone encourage him to get up and walk!

Also, you can’t say, “Well, so-and-so is not healed because he isn’t acting on his faith.” No, a number of things can keep faith from working. The bottom line is that we can’t judge another person’s faith. However, we can know that it is God’s will to heal every person every time, because we have His Word on it! It is our job to believe then act on His laws and trust Him for the results.

Confession: I hear the full Gospel of salvation and healing, and faith rises in me to be healed. I act on my faith in God’s Word and it produces what I desire. God’s Word works!