Bible verses and prayers for healing
Sooner or later illness touches everyone, in our own bodies or in the lives of people we love. The Bible does not look away from sickness. Its pages are full of people who were ill, who prayed for healing and who cried out to God when their strength was gone.
Scripture shows that God cares for the whole person, body and soul, and healing the sick was a large part of Jesus’ ministry. It also links the healing of the body with the deeper healing of the soul from sin. Not every illness is taken away in this life: Paul himself was told that God’s grace would be enough. The final healing will come when God makes all things new.
These verses can help you pray for healing, for yourself or for someone else, and hold on to God while you wait. At the end you will find a short prayer you can use.
The Lord who heals
And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.
Exod 15:26 · King James Version (1769)
God spoke these words at Marah, soon after bringing Israel out of Egypt, where He had just made bitter water sweet. The promise was tied to listening to His voice and keeping His commands. Matthew Henry draws the lesson that God is the great Physician: if we are kept well, He keeps us; if we are made well, He restores us.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Ps 103:2–3 · King James Version (1769)
David calls on his own soul not to forget God’s benefits. Albert Barnes notes that forgiveness comes first in the list, as the first reason for praise. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown add that the sicknesses of the body are named alongside the soul’s sickness, sin.
He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
Ps 147:3 · King James Version (1769)
Barnes explains that this refers first to the people God brought home from the long captivity in Babylon, whose hearts had been crushed. Yet the words describe what God is always like, and Jesus took them up when He spoke of His mission (Luke 4:18).
Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
Jer 17:14 · King James Version (1769)
Jeremiah prayed this when enemies mocked him for his faithful warnings. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that he asks God to heal the evils of both soul and body, which seemed incurable to human eyes. Only what God heals is truly healed.
Jesus the Healer
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Isa 53:5 · King James Version (1769)
Isaiah describes the suffering Servant, whom the New Testament recognizes as Jesus. He was pierced and punished in our place. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that a word for bodily cure is used here for the healing of the soul, while the New Geneva Study Bible stresses that the Servant’s suffering holds power for both spiritual and physical renewal.
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
Matt 4:23 · King James Version (1769)
Wherever Jesus went, He taught, preached and healed. Henry sees His healings as signs of the healing power of His teaching, and adds that today, “if we are cured by medicine, the praise is equally his.”
And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
Mark 5:34 · King James Version (1769)
After twelve years of illness, a woman touched Jesus’ cloak and was healed at once, but she was afraid to admit it. Barnes notes that “daughter” was a word of kindness to calm her fears. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown say Jesus set His seal on her cure and sent her away in peace.
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
1 Pet 2:24 · King James Version (1769)
Peter takes up Isaiah 53 and applies it to the cross. John Wesley explains that Christ bore the punishment due to our sins, so that we might be freed from both their guilt and their power. The deepest wound, sin, is healed by Him.
Praying while you wait
Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
Jas 5:14–15 · King James Version (1769)
James tells sick believers not to suffer alone but to call the elders of the church to pray for them. Henry points out that the healing is credited not to the oil but to the prayer of faith, and that the greatest thing to ask for in sickness is the forgiveness of sins. Healing stays in the Lord’s hands.
The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.
Ps 41:3 · King James Version (1769)
This promise belongs to the person who cares for the poor and the weak (Psalm 41:1). Jamieson, Fausset and Brown picture God as a tender nurse who turns the sick man’s bed so that he can lie more easily: God eases the trial of the merciful.
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Cor 12:9 · King James Version (1769)
Paul asked the Lord three times to take away his thorn in the flesh. Henry notes that we are not told what it was, whether a great trouble or a temptation. God did not remove it but promised grace instead, and Wesley calls this “how tender a repulse”. Sometimes God’s answer is not a cure but strength to go on.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Rev 21:4 · King James Version (1769)
This is the final hope behind every prayer for healing. Wesley notes that the passage describes not this present time but eternity: there death, sorrow and pain will be gone for good.
A prayer for healing
You do not need special words to ask God for healing. You can pray in your own words or use this simple prayer, based on the verses above:
Lord, You are the God who heals. You know my body and everything that troubles me better than I do. I bring this illness to You and ask You to heal me. Give wisdom to the doctors and nurses who care for me, and bless the treatment. Take away my fear and give me Your peace. If the road is long, let Your grace be enough for me each day. Thank You that in Jesus I am forgiven and that one day there will be no more pain. I put my life in Your hands. In Jesus’ name, amen.
If you are praying for someone else, you can pray the same way: name the person, ask God to heal them and stay close to them, and ask Him to give strength to those who care for them. It also helps to ask your church or friends to pray with you, as James encourages (James 5:16).
Prayer and medical care go together. Luke, Paul’s companion, was a physician (Colossians 4:14), and Paul advised Timothy to drink a little wine for his stomach and his frequent illnesses (1 Timothy 5:23). Keep praying, and keep seeing your doctor and following the treatment you are given.