"Should I see a doctor and follow his advice?" When sick people came to Jesus and asked to be healed, He did not reply, "Sorry, but I only heal through doctors. Please make an appointment with Luke. He is a doctor." God uses doctors, who can be especially helpful on many things, especially with fractures and wounds. Those in healing ministries usually encourage the sick not to ignore proper medical attention, nor to stop their medications (possibly to protect themselves against lawsuits, but also maybe wisdom in many cases). It is not necessarily a lack of faith to see a doctor, and your healing will be a witness to the doctor of God's power. However, be careful, because doctors' three main methods - slash, burn, and poison - often do more harm than good: (1) slash (surgery, often dangerous and mutilating), (2) burn (radiation, with bad side effects) and (3) poison (drugs, most all with bad side effects that you may not be told about). If Jesus tarries, I believe someday current medical practices will be considered primitive and outrageous. More people are refusing these highly invasive and potentially harmful medical procedures and are opting to trust God, and perhaps also using natural alternatives. Even many medical doctors have become disenchanted with the failures of their profession and are turning to alternative (complementary) medicine. Studies show that doctor and healthcare mistakes are the third leading cause of death in the United States, whereas God has never made a mistake. I know a lady who rejects both God's power and natural methods, yet had suffered badly with a chronic infection. The doctors kept pouring harmful antibiotics into her, with all their bad side effects, and nothing worked. But she stubbornly stuck with them. Make all such decisions prayerfully and carefully. Personally, I usually just stand on God's Word and do not see a doctor, and God always heals me. Some years ago, the Lord gave me this from His Word, previously mentioned: "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man" (Psalm 118:8, KJV).
"What about good 'ol brother or sister so and so, a 'good Christian,'who did not get healed?" No one is ever good enough to be saved or to be healed. It is only by grace through faith. If faith seems to be applied and someone still does not get healed, we have to trust God's sovereignty and grace. We do not understand everything about everyone's situation. His Word says, "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us" (Deuteronomy 29:29). The secret things do belong to Him, and we may not understand them; however, "the things revealed belong to us," and we must act with faith on what He has clearly revealed in His Word about healing!
"What about when an infant or child dies? Was there not enough faith?" Millions of children die around the world due to neglect and starvation, part of the general curse on the earth. Children of affluent families also die, ostensibly due to no one's fault, and again part of the curse of sickness in the world. I believe God's angels surround and take these little ones directly into the arms of Jesus, as with babies murdered before they are born. Again, Deuteronomy 29:29 applies. However, there are cases where tenacious faith on the part of parents and loved ones have brought back babies and children from certain death. In Appendix 1, I mention that in 1997 a 12-year-old cousin was in a coma for weeks due to brain encephalitis. The doctors finally gave up and suggested removing her life support. The parents said no, preferring to trust God. A prayer network diligently sought for her healing. Miraculously, the child later regained consciousness and is back at home and in school. We must pray fervently, believe, leave the results to God, then praise Him, no matter what.
"But some people say..." About healing, someone always remarks, "But some people say (such and such)," citing all kinds of arguments against God's healing provision. I once heard the wise, elderly minister from Australia, Jim Glennon, respond to that remark. A Bible scholar who had been in the healing ministry for some 40 years, he had heard every objection, and had seen many people miraculously healed. His simple response rang with eternal truth and power: "It doesn't matter what people say. The only thing that matters is what God says!" Let that be your guide. Be convinced of what God says, act upon it, and be unconcerned at what people say. As Satan once used the disciple Peter, whom Jesus rebuked, he will sometimes use well-intended Christians to talk you out of your healing.