Prayers for healing

Someone I know recently died from lung cancer. She was 50 years old. Apparently, her brother, who is from NCC, was fervently praying for her to be healed right up to the moment she drew her last gasp of air, refusing to let go of the hope that she would be miraculously healed after two years of fighting the disease. Her 15 year old daughter is now very angry with God for not answering their prayers. Her husband, who is a new Christian, is very confused. Her brother feels very guilty that he did not have "enough faith" to save her.

That's the problem with wrong theology. Theology is not just about dry doctrinal disputes - it makes a huge difference in how you live your life, how you die (me? I would like to have it said - God willing - that I died with a smile on my face), and how you relate to God.

If your theology is soundly based on the word of God, which states categorically that health AND sickness comes from God (Job 33:19-22, Job 5:17-18), that it is NOT always God's will to heal a sick person (John 11:6), that all things are in the hands of God (Heb 1:3, Psa 75:3, Col 1:17), then you can calmly face anything that happens to you, knowing that your Father in heaven knows what is best and will accomplish it.

If, however, your theology is based on false doctrine, on the idea that God desires always to heal, that we only need to have enough faith, or that we must (somehow) summon up enough faith to speak or command illness away, then when the inevitable happens (Heb 9:27) or miraculous healing does not come, your faith will be destroyed. We simply cannot hold God to promises he never made.

I remember someone I had encountered some time back. She had a bad knee problem, and I had asked, in a conversational way, if she had decided to go for the operation that had been recommended by her orthopaedic surgeon. She said no, she firmly believed that God would heal her (I'm sure she meant miraculously, without the use of medical means). I walked silently beside her for a while as she limped along, then I asked, as gently as I could: "What if he chooses not to? Or what if he chooses to use a surgeon to heal you, rather than do so miraculously?" Let's just say that she did not take kindly to that, and I had to take a deep look into the lessons behind Eph 4:15-16, about speaking the truth in love.

Let me state at this point that I unequivocally believe that God answers prayer. I cannot count the number of times God has answered my prayers for all sorts of things, not just physical healing from sickness. My kids will testify that the first thing I do when they fall ill is to pray for them. I also administer medicine to them if necessary. I see no conflict or lack of faith in doing that.

A W Pink rightly states that all healing ultimately comes from God - whether through the natural processes God has designed into our bodies, or through the use of means such as traditional remedies or medical science. We must remember that whatever medical advances that we now enjoy have come about through the providence of God! And of course God may choose to heal through miracles (healing that occurs against all natural explanation).

But do I believe that he will answer ALL prayers for healing? No. The Bible tells me that is not so. When Lazarus was ill, did Christ heal him immediately? No, he tarried two more days and let him die (John 11:6)! Paul left Trophimus ill at Miletus (2 Tim 4:20). You'd think he would simply have used one of his magic handkerchiefs (Acts 19:11-12) to heal Trophimus, wouldn't you? My own experiences also tell me that there are times when my prayers for healing don't seem to be answered as quickly as I would like them to be.

My wife and I were talking about the person who had died, and how it had affected her family. She pointed out that there was a recent Grace Gem which spoke about this:

"Cast your burden upon the Lord--and He shall sustain you!" Psalm 45:22

There are some mistaken notions current concerning the way in which God would help us. People think that whenever they have a little trouble, a bit of hard path to go over, a load to carry, a sorrow to endure--that all they have to do is to call upon God, and He will at once take away their sorrow, or free them from the trouble. But this is not the way that God helps us! His purpose of love concerning us is--not to make all things easy for us--but to make something of us!

When we ask God to save us from our trouble, to take the struggles out of our life, to make the paths mossy, to lift off every heavy load--He will not do it! It would be most unloving in Him to accommodate us. We must carry the burden ourselves! All God promises is, to sustain us--as we carry it! He wants us to learn life's lessons, and to do this--we must be left to work out the problems for ourselves.

There are rich blessings which can be gotten only in sorrow. It would be short-sighted love indeed--which would heed our cries, and spare us from sorrow--and thus deprive us of the wonderful blessings which can be gotten only in sorrow! God is too good to us to answer our prayers--which would save us from pain, cost, and sacrifice today--at the price of holier, better, truer life in the end. He would not rob us of the blessing that is in the burden--which we can get only by carrying it!