Assemblies of God: What Is Divine Healing?
The Assemblies of God teaches that divine healing is biblical, included in Christ’s atoning work, and available as a privilege to every believer. Christians are encouraged to pray with faith, seek the ministry of elders, and trust God’s power. At the same time, AG teaching does not permit blaming the sick or claiming that every healing must happen immediately.
This article explains the Assemblies of God position on divine healing, the meaning of healing in the atonement, the context of James 5:14–15, and how to pray with both confidence and humility.
What Does the Assemblies of God Teach About Divine Healing?
The Assemblies of God teaches that divine healing is an integral part of the gospel and that deliverance from sickness is provided in the atonement of Jesus Christ. Healing is described as a privilege of all believers, not because every Christian can control the timing or outcome, but because God remains compassionate, powerful, and active in response to faith-filled prayer.
The AG Statement of Fundamental Truths expresses this conviction:
“Divine healing is an integral part of the gospel. Deliverance from sickness is provided in the Atonement, and is the privilege of all believers.”
This teaching is grounded in passages such as Isaiah 53:4–5, Matthew 8:16–17, and James 5:14–16. It also reflects the ministry of Jesus, who repeatedly showed compassion toward the sick, welcomed those who were suffering, and demonstrated that healing belongs within the good news of God’s kingdom.
However, divine healing is not a formula. It is not a promise that believers will never experience illness, disability, grief, medical uncertainty, or death. It is not a weapon for judging someone’s faith. Christian healing ministry must always remain centered on Jesus Christ, shaped by Scripture, and carried out with love.
What Does “Healing in the Atonement” Mean?
“Healing in the atonement” means that Jesus’ redemptive work provides the foundation for God’s restoring grace, including the healing of the body. The cross addresses the whole human condition: sin, separation from God, suffering, corruption, and death.
Isaiah prophesied about the suffering Servant:
“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering” (Isaiah 53:4).
Matthew connects this prophecy to Jesus’ healing ministry:
“He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases” (Matthew 8:17).
The New Testament also says:
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
These passages show that healing is connected to Christ’s saving work. The gospel is not only about escaping punishment after death. Through Jesus, God begins restoring what sin has damaged. That restoration includes forgiveness, reconciliation, spiritual renewal, physical healing, emotional comfort, and the future resurrection of the body.
At the same time, Scripture presents healing in more than one time frame. Some people were healed immediately during Jesus’ earthly ministry. Others received strength to endure suffering. Every believer awaits the final healing that will come when Christ raises the dead and makes all things new.
Therefore, AG teaching holds both truths together:
Jesus has made provision for healing through His atoning work.
The complete fulfillment of healing may be immediate, progressive, or ultimately realized in resurrection.
This protects Christian faith from two opposite errors. One error says God no longer heals. The other says every illness must disappear immediately if a person has enough faith. Scripture supports neither hopelessness nor condemnation.
Does the Assemblies of God Believe God Still Heals Today?
Yes. The Assemblies of God believes that God still heals today because the Holy Spirit remains active in the church and the biblical gifts and ministries of the Spirit continue. Healing is not limited to the first-century apostles.
Jesus Christ is the same Lord who showed mercy to the sick, listened to desperate parents, touched those others avoided, and responded to cries for help. The Holy Spirit still empowers the church to pray, serve, encourage, and minister in Jesus’ name.
Yet believing that God heals does not mean assuming that every prayer will unfold according to our preferred schedule. Faith does not give human beings control over God. Faith rests in God’s character while continuing to ask boldly.
A faithful prayer may sound like this:
“Father, we believe You are able to heal. We ask You to bring healing and strength according to Your mercy. Help us trust You in the waiting, and keep us close to Jesus whatever happens.”
That is not weak faith. It is mature faith, confident in God’s power and humble before God’s wisdom.
What Does James 5:14–15 Teach About Divine Healing?
James 5:14–15 teaches that the church should respond to serious sickness with prayer, pastoral care, anointing with oil, and faith in the Lord.
James writes:
“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.”
This passage should be read in its immediate context. James 5:13–18 presents prayer as the appropriate response to several conditions:
Those who are suffering should pray.
Those who are cheerful should sing praise.
Those who are sick should call for the elders.
Believers should confess their sins to one another and pray for one another.
Elijah is presented as an example of a person who prayed earnestly.
James is describing a praying community, not a private technique. The sick person is not told to hide, pretend, or prove spiritual strength. The person is invited to call for the elders of the church. The elders come near, pray over the individual, and anoint with oil in the name of the Lord.
The focus is not on the oil as a magical substance. The power is in God. The oil is a biblical sign of consecration, care, and dependence upon the Lord. The prayer is offered under Jesus’ authority.
James also connects healing with forgiveness, but this does not mean that every illness is caused by personal sin. Scripture gives many examples of righteous people who suffered. Job suffered without being guilty of the accusations brought against him. Paul endured a persistent physical affliction. Timothy appears to have experienced recurring health problems. Jesus rejected the assumption that every person’s suffering could be explained by personal wrongdoing.
James recognizes that sin, sickness, spiritual weakness, and restoration can sometimes be connected. But the passage should never be used to shame people who remain ill.
What Is the “Prayer of Faith”?
The prayer of faith is confident, Scripture-shaped prayer that trusts God to act. It is not positive thinking, emotional pressure, or a demand that God obey a human declaration.
Faith believes that God is able. Faith believes that God is good. Faith believes that Jesus is Lord. Faith asks boldly while remaining surrendered to God’s wisdom.
The prayer of faith does not say, “I know exactly how and when God must answer.” It says, “Lord, we know You are able, and we place this person in Your hands.”
This kind of prayer leaves room for:
Immediate healing.
Gradual healing.
Wisdom and strength during treatment or recovery.
Emotional and spiritual restoration.
Reconciliation and forgiveness.
Grace to endure a long season.
The final resurrection and complete healing promised in Christ.
When a person is not healed immediately, the church must not conclude that the person lacked faith. That conclusion is cruel, simplistic, and unsupported by the whole counsel of Scripture.
Faith is not measured only by visible results. A suffering believer who continues to trust Jesus, receives prayer, tells the truth, and holds onto hope is not a spiritual failure. That person may be demonstrating remarkable faith.
Does Divine Healing Replace Medical Care?
No. Trusting God for healing does not require rejecting wise care. Prayer and responsible care do not have to compete.
Throughout Scripture, God works through many forms of provision: prayer, community, wisdom, rest, practical help, and ordinary means. Christians can pray for a miracle while also receiving appropriate care. They can ask God for healing while welcoming support from family, church leaders, and qualified caregivers.
The important question is not whether a person has enough faith to avoid every form of help. The question is whether the whole situation is being placed before God with wisdom, honesty, and love.
A church that prays for healing should also be willing to sit with the suffering person. It should provide meals, transportation, encouragement, companionship, and patient support. Divine healing ministry is not only about what happens during a prayer moment. It is also about whether the body of Christ remains present afterward.
Seven Biblical and Pastoral Takeaways About Divine Healing
1. Healing begins with the character of God
God is compassionate, merciful, and attentive to human suffering. Jesus never treated hurting people as interruptions. He saw them, listened to them, and responded with holiness and compassion.
2. Jesus is the center of healing ministry
Christian healing is not about celebrity personalities, religious performance, or spiritual spectacle. It is about Jesus Christ, the Savior, Lord, healer, and risen King.
3. Healing is included in the gospel
The gospel announces God’s complete saving work in Christ. Forgiveness, reconciliation, spiritual renewal, bodily healing, and final resurrection all belong within the hope of redemption.
4. The church should pray with faith
James does not tell the church to respond to sickness with silence or resignation. He calls believers to prayer, pastoral care, anointing, confession where appropriate, and confident dependence on the Lord.
5. Faith is not a tool for controlling God
Faith trusts God without pretending to know everything about His timing. It is possible to pray boldly and still say, “Your will be done.”
6. Sickness should never become a reason for shame
A person’s continued illness does not prove that God has rejected them. It does not automatically reveal hidden sin. The church must protect suffering people from condemnation.
7. Hope reaches beyond the present moment
God may heal now, but Christian hope is larger than one immediate outcome. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, believers look forward to the resurrection, when death, disease, sorrow, and pain will be no more.
How Should Christians Pray for Healing?
Christians can pray for healing with honesty, Scripture, compassion, and humility. A simple pattern may help:
Come to God through Jesus. Healing prayer is offered in the name of the Lord, not through human power.
Name the need honestly. Do not hide fear, pain, uncertainty, or exhaustion.
Ask specifically. It is appropriate to ask God for physical healing, strength, wisdom, peace, and restoration.
Invite trusted believers to pray. James points the sick person toward the elders and the community.
Receive anointing as a sign of faith. The oil points beyond itself to God’s presence and care.
Release the timing to God. Ask with confidence, but do not attempt to force an outcome.
Remain connected. Healing prayer should lead to care, not isolation.
If your prayer feels weak, remember that you do not have to create perfect emotion before approaching God. Jesus receives honest faith, trembling faith, growing faith, and even the cry, “I believe; help my unbelief.”
For encouragement about seasons when prayer seems unanswered, read Faith & Life: When God Has Not Answered Yet. For related teaching about the Holy Spirit and Assemblies of God doctrine, you can also explore Bible Study: What Do Assemblies of God Believe About Baptism in the Holy Spirit, Bible Study: Is Speaking in Tongues for Today?, the Prayer Wall, and the Bible Study Club.
What If You Are Still Waiting for Healing?
Waiting can be one of the hardest forms of suffering. You may have prayed for months or years. You may have received prayer from faithful people and still carry the same diagnosis, pain, limitation, or unanswered question.
God does not ask you to pretend that waiting is easy.
The Psalms give God’s people language for lament, fear, confusion, and hope. Jesus wept at Lazarus’s tomb even though He knew resurrection was coming. Paul prayed repeatedly about his “thorn in the flesh” and received sustaining grace. These passages show that deep faith can exist alongside deep sorrow.
If you are still waiting, you are not forgotten. Your identity is not reduced to your illness. You are not less loved because healing has not happened in the way you hoped. You remain precious to God and valuable to the body of Christ.
The church should never rush past your pain with easy explanations. Sometimes the most Christlike ministry is faithful presence: sitting nearby, praying again, listening carefully, and refusing to abandon hope.
Can Someone Ask for Prayer Without Knowing What They Believe?
Yes. You do not need a perfect theology before asking for prayer. You may be curious, skeptical, angry, exhausted, or unsure whether God is listening. You can still bring your need to Jesus.
The Gospels repeatedly show people approaching Jesus with incomplete understanding. Some came with confidence. Some came with desperation. Some came because someone else carried them. Jesus met people where they were and invited them into deeper trust.
Prayer is not a performance review. You do not earn God’s attention by using the right words. You can simply say:
“Jesus, I need help. If You are there, meet me in this pain. Give me mercy, strength, and truth.”
That prayer can become the beginning of a relationship with Christ.
A Digital Altar Call for Healing and Hope
If you are seeking healing, begin by bringing your whole life to Jesus, not only your symptoms or circumstances. Jesus invites you to receive forgiveness, grace, and new life through faith. He is not distant from your suffering.
You can pray:
Jesus, I come to You as I am. You know my body, my mind, my history, my fears, and my questions. Forgive my sins and draw me close to God. I believe You are able to heal, and I ask You to bring healing according to Your mercy. Give wisdom to those who care for me, strength for today, and hope for tomorrow. Help me trust You without shame and receive love from Your people. Amen.
If you have followed Jesus for years, this prayer can still become a fresh act of surrender. If you are only beginning to explore faith, you are welcome to take this step honestly.
A Pastoral Prayer for Divine Healing
Father God, we come before You in the name of Jesus Christ. You are compassionate toward the sick, the grieving, the anxious, and the weary. Please bring healing where healing is needed. Strengthen bodies, renew minds, comfort hearts, and guide every person who is waiting.
Teach us to pray with faith and humility. Keep us from shame, pride, fear, and false promises. Help the church remain close to those who suffer. Give wisdom, courage, patience, and peace. Above all, draw us nearer to Jesus, whose grace is sufficient and whose resurrection is our living hope. Amen.
Frequently Asked Questions About Assemblies of God Divine Healing
Do the Assemblies of God believe divine healing is for today?
Yes. The Assemblies of God believes that divine healing is biblical and remains available today through the ministry of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. Believers are encouraged to pray with faith and seek God’s intervention.
What does healing in the atonement mean?
Healing in the atonement means that Christ’s redemptive work provides the foundation for God’s restoring grace, including bodily healing. It does not mean that every believer will experience immediate healing or that illness proves a lack of faith.
What is the meaning of James 5:14–15?
James 5:14–15 instructs a sick person to call for the elders of the church. The elders pray over the person, anoint with oil in the name of the Lord, and offer the prayer of faith. The passage emphasizes communal care, prayer, restoration, and dependence on God.
Does unanswered healing prayer mean someone lacks faith?
No. Scripture does not support blaming sick people when healing does not happen immediately. Christians can pray with genuine faith while continuing to trust God through waiting, suffering, recovery, or the hope of resurrection.
Should Christians pray for healing and seek practical care?
Yes. Prayer and wise care can be received together. Trusting God does not require rejecting every form of help. The church should pray, remain present, offer practical support, and encourage wise decisions with compassion and humility.
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