The Desire of My Heart Is To Be WRONG!

Christianity and the beliefs we hold have the capacity to become static and once learned, our beliefs have a tendency to remain constant rather than change. I have known those who claim to know all that may be known about God and in my reasoning, this belief is frightening. The question I think we should all be asking ourselves is whether we are growing or simply stagnant? I recently moved on from a study I have been considering for over five years and when contemplating the next area of concentration, I was in a state many of us discover when we are either in trouble or close to those facing trials and the concepts we hold about prayer began to consume my every thought. The title of these comments is not just something of a creative nature but the true reflection of my heart as I consider a dramatic change in the way I view prayer.

Much of what I have been considering comes from how I view God. Is there anything God needs revealed, is God a respecter of persons, does God still heal in a miraculous manner in present times, does God ever answer a prayer for physical healing, why do some seem to get “special” dispensations from God and why does God seem to answer the prayers of some and not others are just a few of the ideas bothering me as I consider the nature of prayer and how I believe it works. I do hope the conclusions I’ve been able to make so far are wrong and I hope to find something showing me the conclusions are simply ridiculous.

My current position on prayer of physical healing in the life of myself or someone I might love has taken on the characteristic of being a total waste of breath with no hope of having God intervene or even consider intervening on my request. The expression of a powerful statement of belief as this one, should leave no doubt as to the problem I have in getting someone to discuss the nature of prayer and yet why should this be the case? I think the answer has something to do with the choice of when most of us end up approaching God in prayer. Is it not common for people to fall to their knees in prayer most often when they are in need of God’s intervention due to some tragedy or illness? If I am to believe a larger percentage of our prayers are lifted up in reference to our wellness or the well-being of others, then my statement would seem to destroy the very essence of what many have come to believe in as their only “real” contact with the almighty.

The beginning of my thoughts on prayer go all the way back to the Garden of Eden and the action of God following the sin of Adam and Eve. They were told death was the penalty of eating the forbidden fruit and following their transgression, they were removed from the garden and the entire creation was affected with consequences of their sin. When considering mankind, he was going to suffer greatly and eventually face a physical death. Sickness was now in the world and can I believe the prayers of Adam and Eve were even considered by God for the return of the garden’s perfection in their lives? No, they were destined, with all of those to follow, to endure the aches, pains, sores and sickness leading to eventual physical death. There would be heart aches and suffering when a young child or baby would die. The same would be true of watching a parent or loved one suffer through the torment of bad hips, knees and other physical challenges. It is not hard to consider the prayers going up to God for healing and yet, year after year, He seemed to be distant from His people when asked to eliminate the effects of sin on creation.

As hard as all this is to realize, the real “kink” in all of this is knowing of healing and even the raising of the dead having taken place many times throughout the history of mankind. Prayers have been answered and people have been healed is the greatest challenge to my statement and yet, I have come drawn a conclusion many will find disturbing. This healing is not taking place because of a prayer offered requesting the healing, but rather because God in His divine wisdom and will provides the healing purely for His purpose and not because of the prayerful petitions offered up to Him! I have reached this conclusion because the intervention of God simply as a response to prayer for even one person and not another would cause me to view God as showing favoritism to one person over another. At this time in my life, I can’t accept this view of God.

Having apparently, at least in my own mind, dismissed a foundational concept of the prayer life I once held and currently held by many, I began considering the value of prayer and the purpose of prayer for the people of God. The examples of prayer in the Bible are numerous and even Jesus when asked, gave us direction in our prayers as He prayed what we all have come to know as “The Lord’s Prayer.” After reading through the examples of prayer, I fully believe the main focus or direction of our prayer should fall under the heading demonstrated by the words, “thy Kingdom come and Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” As I see it, our goal and prayers should be to realize God’s will here and now in our lives and our prayers should ask for those things necessary to help us in our chosen task to see God’s will done.

One thing most recently becoming a part of my thinking on prayer concerns the sinful nature of mankind and just what falls under this terminology. We all love and want to be loved by others and this seems to fit well within the context of learning to be like God and see His will done in our daily lives. I’ve also considered this desire might also fall under the scope of sinful nature! If I consider the desires I form each day in my life and the desires God has, it quickly becomes clear my desires are either the will of God or the will of Mike unless I grow closer in my walk where my will is controlled by His will. If I pray for and desire my life to model the goodness of God and the love of God towards others, I find myself fully within the will of God and believe there is not even the slightest chance the expectations of my prayer will not be granted! Are we not told how everything we ask for that is the will of God will be granted? Am I to believe, as some, prayers are weighed by God and the “will” in question is His decision on each prayer or is there real truth in the instruction guiding us to simply pray for those things we know are His will? As an example, do we really believe it is or is not God’s will for us to win a football game. We definitely know it is His will for us to play in way which brings glory to His name. Within the same structured scenario, is God looking to heal our bodies or looking to see our bodies do His will regardless of our health challenges?

Considering all things, if asked for what I would like others to pray for me, I would ask they lift me up to God asking not for my continued health, not for the renewal of strength that seems to be leaving as I get older and not that I lose the weight I’ve put on. Instead, I would ask for the prayers to make me more lovable to others, more caring towards those needing help, more focused on becoming more like Christ each day, more devoted to seeing God’s will done in all things and last of all that the way I live my life under all challenges will bring glory to God.

As I come to the close of this offering, I would have you know of other consideration of prayer on which I have formed or drawn conclusions, possibly for another time of writing. The few statements following are a few found right at the top of my thinking.

1.    I fully believe prayers for others in support of their struggles are GOOD and offer healing on some level. Regardless of whether I believe certain things are addressed by God under the concept of “sometimes He says yes and sometimes He says no, has nothing to do with the support felt by loved ones offering a prayer in their behalf.

2.    Prayer can and should be used as a shield against the desires of Satan to control our lives.

3.    Prayers of every nature concerning the condition of our heart should be offered up to God. (In other words if it is on your heart take it to God in prayer.)

4.    Prayers are either the will of the individual or the will of God and God does not answer yes or no but YES to all of those under “His” heading!

5.    God’s grace is good enough for you and you do not need the desires of your human nature. I believe God addressed this with the Apostle Paul and He did not need to bring about physical healing in Paul for what He needed from Paul.