Why Don’t FAITH HEALERS Minister in Hospitals?
Published: 18th May 2026
Critics of ministers involved in faith healing will throw out an argument that goes something like this:
‘You don’t see faith healers working in hospitals for the same reason you don’t see psychics winning the lottery.’
The first problem with this argument is that it implies that Christians involved in the ministry of faith healing are con artists, similar to psychics. Yet healing was an important part of Jesus Christ’s ministry when he was on Earth. Note for yourself:
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.
As you can see, the three components of the Lord’s ministry on Earth were:
- Teaching the truths of God’s Word.
- Preaching the Good News of God’s kingdom.
- Healing every disease and sickness among the people.
This is what Christ’s ministry consisted of when he was on Earth — teaching, preaching, healing; teaching, preaching, healing. Say it. The point is that one third of his ministry was devoted to healing the sick and diseased!
Paul functioned in this ministry as well, as observed by Acts 19:11-12 and Acts 28:8-9.
Was Jesus Christ a con artist, like psychics today? Was Paul? Obviously not. So, the argument that believers today involved in the ministry of faith healing are akin to modern psychics needs to be discarded.
Another problem with the core criticism (in red above) is the idea that faith healers should barge into hospitals and go from room-to-room, healing the sick en masse. Why don’t they? For one thing, hospital authorities and govt authorities wouldn’t allow it.
Secondly, the argument suggests that receiving a healing by faith is 100% the responsibility of the one teaching/preaching healing, yet it’s not. Over and over in the Gospels the Lord said to people who received healing, “your faith has healed you” (e.g. Mark 5:34, & Mark 10:52). All this means is that they believed it was God’s will for them to be healed and they received from the conduit of God’s healing power, which was Jesus Christ. In the case of James 5:14-15 the conduit would be the elders of an assembly (an “elder” would refer to the fivefold ministers in a fellowship or any anointed mature believer). Yet the believer can also receive healing by faith without any conduit. Remember, the Lord said: “whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24).
Now let’s apply this to a healing minister going to a hospital and serving patients. The patients wouldn’t have the faith to be healed until they first heard God’s Word on healing and believed it, which would result in receiving healing by faith. So, even if authorities allowed an anointed faith healer to go into a hospital and minister to the patients, the minister in question would have to have the time to minister God’s Word on receiving a healing by faith before the patient could believe it and therefore receive the healing. After all, if he or she doesn’t have faith to be healed, they won’t receive it.
This of course can be done on a small scale in regards to willing patients and the ministers they’ll receive, whether that involves a minister visiting the patient at his/her bedside or a ministry conducting services in a room of the hospital for willing patients, assuming the facility would allow it.
Let me close by saying that the Scriptures plainly show that there are false ministers, who could be described as con artists (Matthew 7:15-23; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15), but this doesn’t discount the many legitimate ministers involved in faith healing.
Related Topics:
Should You Get the Surgery or BELIEVE FOR HEALING?
If Healing Comes by Faith, Why Use ANOINTING OIL, HANDKERCHIEFS, etc.?
When You Should ASK and When You Should SPEAK IN FAITH, aka DEMAND
Faith — What Is It? Why Is It Important? How Does It Grow?
What are the Nine Gifts of the Spirit?
What is Cessationism and is it Biblical?
