tough small group situation

I don't know why but I really struggle when I'm in a personal situation that doesn't seem black and white. I tend to lean toward tolerance but then later beat myself for allowing it. What am I talking about? Well at small group we had a visitor who has been in training with Healing Rooms under Bill Johnson. We also have a person in the group whose wife suffers from severe, chronic (20 years) back pain due to an organic problem (something physically happened - no demonic activity nor sin pattern nor whatever else your theology might allow or presume).

Anyway, I believe God can and does heal - both instantaneously and gradually. I believe that God's 'bent' is to heal, i.e., all of the suffering in this world is a result of the fall and God is glorified when His Kingdom breaks in and redeems man from sin and its affect - yet His Kingdom doesn't always come in a way that brings complete restoration. I believe faith, righteousness, etc. has something to do with that yet nothing to do with that - meaning God is sovereign. He does what He wills when He wills - and nothing happens beyond His control.

I desperately want this poor woman healed. I believe God can do it.

So here comes the Healing Rooms guy stating their 'doctrine'. The following is from their site.

IS IT ALWAYS GOD’S WILL TO HEAL SOMEONE?

How can God choose not to heal someone when He already purchased heir healing? Was His blood enough for all sin, or just certain sins? Were the stripes He bore only for certain illnesses, or certain seasons of time? When He bore stripes in His body He made a payment for our miracle. He already decided to heal. You can't decide not to buy something after you've already bought it.

There are no deficiencies on His end - neither the covenant is deficient, nor His compassion or promises. All lack is on our end of the equation. The only time someone wasn't healed in the Bible (gospels) when the disciples prayed for them was with the tormented child (Mark 9). Jesus then came a brought healing/deliverance to the child. Jesus Christ is perfect theology - He is the will of God. We can't lower the standard of scripture to our level of experience . . . or in most cases, inexperience. It's a very uncomfortable realization - not everyone can handle it. Most create doctrine that you can't find in the person of Jesus. He is the will of God.

How do we fix the problem?
1. Realize it's not God's fault.
2. Learn from others who see miracles. Have them pray for you. If you don't know people who see miracles, find them. Books will help, if the author has a miracle lifestyle. (Don't try to learn from those who only have the theory of miracles.)
3. Do what Jesus told His disciples to do when He addressed the problem - pray and fast (not just for a specific problem, but for a lifestyle anointing.)
4. Take risk - pray for people (NOT - "if it be thy will" kind of prayer. In the thousands of people I've seen healed, I've never seen anyone healed from that kind of prayer.)
5. It's hard to hurt someone's faith by praying for a miracle. Not praying for a miracle gives them no chance for increased faith. That is what hurts faith. The real goal is to show people God's love. And faith grows in the display of God's love. His love is seen when we show compassion and display God's power.
6. When God heals people, give Him thanks and praise. Learn from it so it will happen again.
7. If someone isn't healed, realize the problem isn't God, and seek Him for direction as well as personal breakthrough (greater anointing for consistency in healing). Also, don't take it personal. There are other factors involved besides great faith. That is only one element in the equation. Just learn to do your best to be faithful to His gospel, and honor Him for the results. It's also not wise to blame the person who is sick.
8. There's a difference between a miracle and healing. Miracles happen in an instant and healing happens over time. It is important to recognize the progress of what God is doing in a person's body and give thanks, because healing increases in an atmosphere of thankfulness.

There I sit, desperately wanting to pray for this woman's healing. Fully believing God wants to heal her but not believing most of the above. The guy told several stories with contradictory points, he was vague in some of his thinking, etc.. And yet, the last thing I wanted to do was to enter into a debate that God does not want to heal, can't heal, won't heal, whatever.

Had this fellow suggested praying to Allah, Satan, whomever, I would have no discomfort shutting it down. Yet because he was pointing in the direction I wanted to head, I allowed it.

If you want, you can critique my thinking on healing or you can critique his. But what I'd really like is some thoughts on how to handle these real life situations in which you run into someone that is saying close to what you are saying but the differences are worlds apart - how do you deal with that (or should you) in a setting that your concerned about what the others will learn?

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