The LAW of Expectation for Miracles

#1) Healing (and Deliverance) are Salvation Issues

The Greek word for salvation is Soteria which essentially means:

• Deliverance from danger: rescue from enemies, death, or destruction.

• Preservation of life: ongoing safety and protection.

• Healing and wholeness: physical restoration tied to spiritual salvation.

• Forgiveness of sins: reconciliation with God through Christ’s atoning work.

• Eternal life: participation in God’s kingdom, beyond death.

The Hebrew word for salvation is Yeshuah (with an “h” at the end) which means basically the same thing as the Greek word for salvation. Jesus’ name is Yeshua (same exact spelling but without an “h” at the end) and His name means “Yahweh saves” or “The LORD is salvation.”

So salvation is so much more than just going to heaven someday. It is LIFE and LIFE abundantly here and now.

Today we’ll look at just 1 aspect of salvation: divine healing

#2) To Pray the Prayer of Faith and Recieve God's Promises, We Must Know His Will

God’s will for healing is already secured through the finished work of Jesus, as affirmed in Isaiah 53:4-5 and 1 Peter 2:24.

📖 Isaiah 53:4–5 (NLT)

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.

📖 1 Peter 2:24 (NLT)

He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds, you are healed.

Jesus physically healed everyone who came to Him, which Matthew 8:17 says fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53.

Additionally, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).”

This healing is not a future hope—it’s a present spiritual reality waiting to be manifested through faith. The believer’s role is to align with God’s creative nature, as described in Romans 4:17.

#3) Abraham's Story as the Perfect Example of Faith

God declared Abraham the father of many nations. He even changed his name from Abram to Abraham.

Abram (אַבְרָם / ʾAḇrām) means “exalted father” or “high father.”

Abraham (אַבְרָהָם / ʾAḇrāhām) means “father of a multitude” or “father of many nations.”

Abraham had Faith in God’s power and trusted the God who gives life to the dead. Abraham was 75 when God first gave Him the promise. 24 years later, Abraham still trusted God to fulfill it, but he was 99 years old and still – no Isaac.

THEN God changed his name.

In changing Abram’s name to Abraham, God increased his faith to receive the miracle of Isaac and ONLY 1 year later, when He was 100 and Sarah was 90 years old, they had Isaac.

God invites us to have the same faith today in His creation authority: God invites us to call into being what does not exist.

#4) We Call Things That Are Not as Though They Are

"We call things that are not as though they are" comes from the Bible (Romans 4:17) and refers to having faith by speaking promises as if they are already fulfilled, like God calling Abraham a "father of many nations" before he had children, or believers calling themselves healed when sick, believing God's word over their current circumstances. It's a principle of positive confession or faith-based speaking, focusing on God's creative power to bring the unseen into reality.

Just as Abraham believed God’s promise despite natural impossibility, believers are called to speak healing into being—not to convince God, but to agree with Him. We cannot come to God or even please Him without faith (Hebrews 11:6)!

Expectation is the highest form of faith, therefore it is highly pleasing to God, and it activates the unseen reality of healing.

When God changed Abram’s name to Abraham—“father of many nations”—He embedded the promise into Abraham’s very identity (Genesis 17:5). Every time someone called his name, they were declaring the miracle of Isaac into being. This was not just a name change; it was a prophetic activation of expectation. God was training Abraham to hear and speak the promise daily, reinforcing faith through repetition.

#5) Faith That Expects Healing is NOT Wishful Thinking

Expectation rooted in God's goodness and His promises is covenant alignment. It speaks what God has already declared, refusing to let symptoms or doubt override the truth of what Jesus has paid for us to have and wants us to have.

However, when believers begin to question when God wills healing—especially due to man-made theological delays or rationalizations—it creates an internal doubt loop.

This doubt loop weakens faith, diminishes results, and erodes persistence in prayer. We must “ask in faith, without doubting, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind (James 1:6).” Doubt leads to a loss of confidence in the promise - instead of pressing in we often give up too soon.

Some breakthroughs require spiritual persistence, as seen in Daniel 10, where angelic resistance delayed the answer. Others are hindered by an unrenewed mind that still prioritizes natural evidence over eternal truth (but we are to walk by faith not by sight - 2 Cor 5:7).

The solution is always the same: focus on God’s Word, meditate on His promises, speak into your breakthrough, refuse to listen to any doubt, and refuse to let any delayed visible results redefine His will.

The fact may be that you don’t look healed, but facts change and God’s truth will always stand above the facts.

#6) Expectation is NOT Optional—it is Essential to Answered Prayer

In fact, we probably won’t even pray for something if we think God would not approve of the request. So when we pray we always have somewhat of an expectation that God cares and hears us. What we want to do, is take that expectation to the next level.

Jesus said in Mark 11:24, “I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it (believe it is already done in the Greek), it will be yours.” The Greek word for “anything” or “whatever” here is ὅσα (hosa)—meaning as many things as, whatever, anything at all. This is a sweeping invitation to believe for everything God has promised.

Jesus reinforced this in John 14:13–14: “You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it… Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!” Again, the word “anything” is ὅ τι (ho ti)—emphasizing the open access granted through covenant and relationship.

When we draw near to God with that kind of expectancy, He draws near to us (James 4:8). He meets faith with faithfulness. He honors those who take Him at His Word.

When you sit down in a chair 99.99% of the time you don’t wonder beforehand if it will support you. You just sit down. How much more powerful is our almighty God and His eternal, unbreakable promises to support us?

#7) Romans 8:32 Seals Our Confidence in God's Promises:

“Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?”

If God gave the greatest gift—Jesus—then healing, provision, peace, and restoration are not distant hopes. They are part of the “everything else” He’s already made available.

So, if God already gave us the greatest gift of all - JESUS - what lesser thing might we be having trouble believing that He will give us?

Expectation is how we receive it and expectation is the highest form of faith, therefore it is highly pleasing to God.

What would our posture be for healing if we knew without a doubt that our healing was available, already promised to us, desired for us to have right now, and already paid for, with Holy Spirit power compassionately and gracefully working to bring it into being?

Would we rejoice in confident, patient expectation with prayers and declarations of healing?

#8) Summary of the Mechanism for Receiving Healing

Here is a brief outline of the process of having faith for healing:

1. Know the Promise and that God's Will is Settled: God's will for physical healing is already guaranteed by the stripes of Jesus on the cross (Isaiah 53:5; Matthew 8:17) and we know that Jesus wants it for us now. This covenant truth is non-negotiable and independent of any of our current symptoms.

2. The Requirement (Expectation): Since the promise is settled, the only variable is our response. This response must be Expectation, which is defined as believing we have already received the answer at the moment we pray (Mark 11:24). After that, let’s just speak only into the healing (not against it) and keep thanking God for it.

3. The Activation (No Doubt): This expectant faith must be maintained without any doubt (James 1:6). Doubt is the primary thief of the miracle, as it undermines the confidence in God's fixed will. Doubt pauses the download.

4. The Result (Manifestation): By holding the expectation (the unseen truth) above the current physical facts (the symptoms), the believer creates the spiritual conditions for the healing to manifest physically, and hopeful persistence makes it an inevitable reality.

#9) Why Expectation is the Key to Understanding Mark 11:24

The Mark 11:24 instruction—"whatever you pray and ask for, believe you have received it, and it will be yours"—is the perfect verse to highlight the necessity of expectation.

The Tense of Belief: The Greek verb translated as "have received" is in the aorist tense, suggesting a completed action. Jesus is telling the believer to acknowledge the answer as a done deal in the spiritual realm before seeing the physical evidence.

The Posture of Expectation: This forces the posture of expectation—you are not waiting for God to decide; you are waiting for the physical realm to catch up to the spiritual reality you already claimed by faith.

Expectation is not optional; it is the essential response that honors God's fulfilled promise and activates the miracle. It provides the firm, logical, and confident basis for stating that healing is always God's will for us now.

#10) Final Reflection

I’m teaching on this not to puff myself up. I speak into and pray for God’s healing every day. I figure there are things that can start happening in my body and go on for a long time without me even knowing it, and the best time to stop a problem is the sooner the better. I work in medicine and I see so much suffering. It hurts me to know that God has given us a way out of that but many will never realize it. So I am teachign about this out of love – because I hate to see people suffer, and I am certain that God does too.

📖 1 Corinthians 13:2 (NLT)

If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.

Faith in miracles is important, but most importantly, we need to pursue the love and nature of God first. When we fall in love with God and His presence, His character flows through us, and serving others comes from the overflow of knowing Him.

Are we pursuing God's presence-or simply what He can do through us?