At times I've prayed, "Lord, I laid hands on Brother so-and-so over there, and he didn't get any better." But notice in this passage of Scripture that God didn't say, "Just go lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." No, He starts out by saying, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." Then He says, "And these signs shall follow them that believe...."
We aren't supposed to just go around looking for sick people to lay hands on. They will run away from us if we do that. First, we have to tell them what God's Word says. We have to tell them the good news of the Gospel - that it's God's will for them to be healed and that if we lay hands on them, they will recover.
We make a mistake when we rush out and try to lay hands on everybody without teaching them to cooperate with the Word. I remember a case like that. People laid hands on someone to pray for him. But the moment they were done praying, the person receiving the prayer said, "Well, that didn't work." He didn't expect it to work, because no one had taught him how it was supposed to work.
But if that same person hears the Gospel, he can get in agreement with the person praying for him. He'll know for himself that God's will is healing for all.
God's Word lives richly in me, so I'm always ready
to give God's Word to someone with a need. I speak
the Word, knowing that the power in the Word produces
faith in me and everyone who hears.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers