Healing "Preliminaries"

Sometimes God plops an obviously sick person in front of us. Perhaps they are wearing a cast or they are in a medical brace, or they are limping with a cane to support them. And the thought goes through our mind -- should I pray for that person? We hesitate. Why? Because we are not sure whether or not it is God's will for us to pray for them. We wonder -- if I pray for this person, will God heal them? What will happen if he doesn't heal them? Will they become angry? Will they become discouraged? Will God look bad? (Or even worse ... will everyone think I am some sort of idiot or religious fanatic?)

How many times has that happened to you, where you saw someone who was obviously in need of healing and then had a silent debate as to whether or not to pray for them? Have you ever debated whether or not to pray for a person until the opportunity goes away, until the person leaves and it becomes too late? Do you walk away from that feeling like you may have missed the will of God in that situation?

How do you determine what God's will is when praying for the sick? This lesson will address that questions, and help us better understand God's will in prayer.

Jesus taught us to pray for God's kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. When Jesus gave the Lord's Prayer, it contained the phrase "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." That should apply to every aspect of our prayer life. When we pray for the sick, we are praying for God to manifest His kingdom now. I look at this verse, and I ask myself, "Is there any sickness in heaven? Is there any disease in heaven?" Of course, the answer is No!" Sickness is a product of this world, it is not found in God's kingdom. So when I am asking for God's kingdom to come into the realm of sickness and disease, I am asking for God to eliminate it. Sickness and disease cannot persist when God's kingdom is present, because sickness and disease are not a part of God's kingdom.

It was when I began to come across this verse that I began to have the confidence to pray for the will of God in this area. Pray for the will of God for all to be healed. We can pray this way because the Bible tells us how to pray -- it is the will of God that we pray this way. The issue is not whether or not healing is received. The issue is: Is this the right way to pray? The answer is, yes, this is the right way to pray.

Let me illustrate this by looking at salvation. Is it the will of God for everybody to be saved? Is it the will of God for people to come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior? Is that the Will of God in heaven? Let me just give you some verses if you are skeptical about it. 1 Tim. 2:3-4 says, "This is good, and pleases God our Savior, Who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." 2 Pet. 3:9 says: "The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

What is the will of heaven for people who are not saved? Is it the will of God to pray for everybody to be saved? Do you have any debate or any question when you come to somebody who is not saved? Do you think, "Well I don't know if you are supposed to be in heaven or not. I don't know the will of God about you." (I know there are probably a few Calvinists around, who say, "I don't know if you are part of Christ's elect or not. You are probably doomed for destruction anyway.") I look at the Word and I say this, "The will of God in heaven is that all people be saved."

But are all people saved? No. Do people go to hell? Yes. Just because it is the will of God, that doesn't mean it always happens. You see, you can violate the will of God. Just because God has a determined will in Heaven doesn't mean that we are going to choose to walk it out here on this earth. Is everything that you do in the perfect will of God? Obviously not, because the bible says we all sin, and when we are sinning, we are not doing God's will. While we, as Christians, don't live in constant sin, we have all fallen into that category from time to time. When we sin, we choose our will over God's will -- and God allows that. He allows us to make decisions that violate His will. He allows things to happen that violate His will.

What is the will of God? What God has set for His will in heaven doesn't mean that people are going to choose to do that. We pray for people all the time to be saved that aren't saved. If we pray for a person's salvation and they die without Christ, does that mean we should stop praying for people to be saved? Of course not. Likewise, what if we pray for healing and the person dies? Should we stop praying for others to be healed? Of course not. The issue is not whether or not healing takes place. The issue is, is it the will of God to pray for everybody to be healed? That is the issue that is at stake here.

What sickness and disease wasn't covered by Jesus? Why isn't everybody healed? (We will discuss that later.) But for now we just need to know this -- that just because something is the will of God doesn't mean it will be claimed or received. And just like people die every day and go to Hell, because they have not received the grace of salvation. Not everybody has fully received the provision given.

One more confidence building point: There's the promise of the prayer of faith. "Are any among you sick? They should call the elders of the church and have them pray over you, anointed them with oil in the name of the Lord and their prayer offered in faith, will heal the sick, and the Lord will make them well. And anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven." So here again, we like that last sentence relating to sins, but there is also the part about healing. From these verses I would say my faith is growing and I am beginning to see the difference between what is fully manifested and what is the will of God.

I am learning that it is OK for us to pray for the sick and expect that God will heal them.

I used to pray, "If it be Thy will." Is there anybody in my camp? Has anybody done that thing? "If it is Thy will." Why did I pray that way? I was giving God an out. I didn't want God to have a bad reputation. What if He doesn't heal them? If they are not healed, then it must not have been the will of God. I am protecting God's reputation. Or maybe I am protecting my reputation -- I don't want to look bad. I don't want to pray for your healing and all of a sudden you die. I would look bad. So I say, "If it be Thy will..." and therefore if you die, it had to be the will of God for you to die.

I don't know how God gets any glory out of sickness like that. So I don't pray that anymore. I look at those verses and I realize healing is the will of God in heaven. This is what Jesus has done. Not only is it part of the Old Covenant but also part of the New Covenant. And therefore I can stand on this because this is the full manifestation of the future kingdom. We are asking God to invade for a season for a while on this earth and live in the promises in this body.