Why Am I Not Healed

       BOOK REVIEW:   Pastor Glen Berteau approaches life-altering events with firsthand insight. In the parking lot outside his church, soon after writing this book, he suffered cardiac arrest and died. Following the lack of oxygen and trauma to his body from the repeated electric shocks that revived him, his chance of survival was extremely slim. For five days his family and friends refused the devastating prognosis.....and prayed the way he taught them to pray. 

     Now, walking out his miracle, Pastor Glen wants to help other believers understand the power we have in the spirit realm to command mountains to move. 

     Do you struggle to know if it is God's will to heal? Let Pastor Glen share his gripping story with you as he counters seventeen hindrances to prayer for healing---and many powerful healing Scriptures and declarations. With the signposts presented here, you can rise up in your God-given authority and declare, "Devil, your request has been denied."

     

     MY REVIEW:   This book is very straightforward: you can pray away any illness. I read the book with some trepidation. There are good solid christians who die of illness; we live in a fallen world with imperfect bodies that are not immuned to disease. How can we declare that we don't have to be sick? Can we really claim to have authority over what perhaps God has allowed to befall us for whatever reason? Glen sounds so sure and gives no backing down, but I don't know that I'd take it to the extreme he does. 

     However, as I reviewed the book, I found many solid principles: 

1. We cannot use the power of prayer as a mere tool at our disposal. We have to be in constant communion with God and His Word. "You must rise with the Word in your life." -pg 16
2. When the four men brought their lame friend into the house where Jesus taught, the way was crowded so they entered through the roof. Miracles don't come on a platter, "if you want to get your miracle, you have to make a great effort, and that means you may be inconvenienced." -pg19
3. Jesus didn't just heal physical ailments, He began with spiritual ones. But here is one of my biggest hiccups with the book: Glen goes on to say "sin is connected to physical sickness."-pg 23   I don't believe that the wealthy healthy man is always the christian, and that the poor sick man always is not. God says that He blesses the just and the unjust, and we do live in an imperfect, fallen world. That's not to say that sickness is never the result of sin, but it's an area I need to study more myself. Glen writes, "Jesus wants to heal you, but first He wants to forgive your sins.... I need to look at not just my physical body but all the areas in my life that God needs to adjust."-pg 31   Yes, but then he writes, "it will be easy to receive your physical healing when you get your life right spiritually... if there are issues in your spirit, it will eventually show up as some form of physical illness."-pg 32    I believe that illnesses can often be the result of sin in one's life, but to put such an unswerving point on it feels overstepped. 
4. We have to put the majority of our time and efforts into our relationship with God, because that is what will stand for eternity. I really needed this reminder: "The spirit world is more real than the physical world. It is eternal. It has always existed and it will always exist."-pg78    If we do not know what God's word says, we will be easily led astray by good-sounding, but false, doctrine. 
5. Often God promises us something and it takes a good long while to come about. Did we hear God wrong? Did He change His mind, or did I do something to affect it? There will be in-between times in life when we just have to trust God and wait. "We all go through the in-between times. You may never understand, but one day we will get to Heaven, and we will get those answers."-pg131   There are usually obstacles to overcome in our lifetime, obstacles that would overwhelm if we knew them before they came. Often it is a blessing not to know what is ahead. At the end of it all, if we turn from God where else can we turn to? So trust, and stick it out. 

     All in all, I give the book a good review, for although I think it does overstep in instances, the material is good and well-written. The subject of prayer is one that can never be over-studied, and no one single book (excepting the Bible), can be an absolute guide to it.  One of the later chapters has a list of seventeen reasons why we may not be healed. While I may not agree that there is always something we can change to be healed, it is a good list to consider for any person, as it contains common pitfalls to every Christian. 

I received a copy of this book from REVELL and was not required to write a positive review.