Sick? Suffering?

Himself took our infirmities, and carried our sicknesses.
Behold! a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and begged him, saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. — And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and said to him, I will; be clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.
Now as He approached the gate of the city (of Nain), a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, "Don't cry. Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
He called His twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness
I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

Compassion. Power. Connection with God.  These are the overwhelming realities of Jesus' ministry.  However, we often believe in Jesus as if His power has diminished over time, and the things He did for people "back in the day" don't happen any longer.  This is simply not true, and God, through His Son, does touch human lives physically, spiritually, miraculously.  There are a number of "rules," however, that I've found reliable when I've seen God heal:

1.  Healing may be instant, or happen over time.  Sometimes there is just a gradual strengthening of the body.

2. The goal of healing is health.  Those who live an unhealthy lifestyle must be committed to change it.

3. Healing comes with its own burden: the consciousness that GOD is in control of your life.  If you ask Him to heal you, expect that He will want you to respond back to Him with love.

4. Healing, whether it involves the body or soul, is a spiritual act.  

5. God may choose not to heal (I have had that happen), since He is sovereign.  Even Jesus said once, 

"Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; God is sovereign. He decides. He is also compassionate.
6. There is a special set of spiritual gifts in Christianity, called "gifts of healings," but the majority of healing comes from people praying for each other.
7. This world is not the place of final healing. For that, we await the next world, the new heaven and new earth: If God does not heal you, it will come later, in the new world.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And [God], who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
8. If you are sick, the first thing you should do is ask God for His healing. The Bible discusses a Jewish king, Asa, who was diseased in his feet--but he never got well, because he sought the physicians, but not the LORD. God does not say, "No doctors;" He does say, "Seek me first."