A few years ago I snapped my right Achilles tendon and was in a cast and on crutches for six weeks. After the cast was off I was anxious to get active again. Soon afterwards, when riding my bicycle, I got off my bike to safely walk across a busy street on the green light. When I stepped off the pavement, suddenly a car swung around the corner from my left without stopping. I got a fright and jumped out of the way—and snapped the same tendon again. Not fun.

True, it was unfortunate that this happened, but the fact is I really hadn’t given myself quite enough time to heal properly before getting out on my bicycle.

Sometimes, when we pray for healing of a sickness, we want God to heal us without taking into account our responsibility in the matter. When we do this, we are looking more for magic than a miracle. As David Seamands put it, “I believe in miracles but not magic.”

Furthermore, often we skip one of the fundamental requirements for healing. Many ills—physical, emotional, relational and/or spiritual—are caused or greatly aggravated by unresolved super-charged repressed negative emotions such as anger, resentment, bitterness, anxiety, stress, unconfessed sin, guilt, grief, fears, a failure to forgive and so on. These issues can and do cause many ills and, if unresolved, block healing.

Whenever I get sick, I always ask God to show me if there is anything in my life that may either be causing or making my sickness worse.

I was talking to a man yesterday who has major physical ills. It was quite apparent that he was a very angry man. It sure made me wonder. As Henry Cloud and John Townsend like to say, “God is merciful. When we have unresolved problems, he gives us symptoms.”

If we want to be healed, it pays to do it God’s way. Confession is a major key for considerable healing and greatly improved health.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me always to be honest with myself and with You, see all of my unresolved problems, admit when I have sinned, and confess these both to You and to a trusted pastor, priest, counselor or friend—and thereby receive forgiveness and healing. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. James 5:15 (NIV).