How to Put God’s Word First: Faith Before Medicine

Let me share a story of what happened some time ago during one of our evangelism outreaches. It clearly shows the place of the Word of God in many Christian lives today.

We went out for evangelism on a Sunday morning, and a lady we met complained of being ill. I felt led to pray for her, so I called the brothers and sisters around for us to pray together.

As we gathered and were about to pray, a sister suddenly asked her, “Have you gone to the hospital?”

Honestly, I wasn’t happy with that question at that moment, even though I didn’t say anything.

Don’t get me wrong—it is good and wise to go to the hospital when necessary. I am not against that at all. But in that moment, we were about to pray. Why not allow us to finish first before bringing that up?

I don’t know exactly why she asked that question, and I am not condemning her for asking it. But the timing revealed something deeper.

It showed how quickly our minds go to physical solutions before we respond to what the Word of God instructs us to do.

Now, let me ask you a sincere question: When you fall sick, what is the first thing that comes to your mind?

Is it prayer and acting on the Word of God? Or is it taking medication and going to the hospital?

If your default response is always the latter, then it simply shows that your mind is not yet aligned with what the Word of God teaches.

It means, in a practical sense, you are not putting the Word first. We must learn to put the Word of God first in every situation, including our health.

If we truly put the Word first and stand in faith, there are situations where we may not even need medication.

However, it is also important to be balanced. If we put the Word first and, at that point, our faith is not yet strong enough to carry us through, there is nothing wrong with seeking help through medical care or going to the hospital.

But the key is this: what comes first? Is it the Word—or something else? Let us train ourselves to respond first with the Word of God. Let us build a habit of trusting God before anything else.

Because when the Word truly comes first in our lives, it begins to shape our thinking, our responses, and our outcomes.

Let’s always put the Word first.