How do most believers on these forums go about praying for illness?
Do we take it as a thorn in the flesh as Paul did, and say, God's grace is enough?
Or should we try and change God's will by asking for deliverance?
Or is there a middle ground?
i think the answer to your questions is yes. for both sides.
i believe that accepting God's perfect will while we don't understand it is beautiful and pleasing to Him.
and i believe that the prayers of faith which assume He can change anything He wants to is beautiful and pleasing to Him.
so it's both, i think. i encourage you to ask! He is glorified in answering prayer. and...He is glorified in us worshiping Him just as passionately when His answer is no as if it were yes.
my 2 cents, hope it blesses.
Or should we try and change God's will by asking for deliverance?
I would like to turn this question on its head and see what it looks like if we ask it another way. If you had a sickness that was God's will, would you be sinning against God if you went to a doctor or took medicine in an attempt to get well? Would you not be in open rebellion to God since you are attempting to circumvent His will.
Scripture very plainly tells us what Paul's thorn was. 2Co 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
The messenger of Satan is, in the Greek, aggelos. It is literally, "an angel of Satan". This is a demon assigned specifically to Paul. Why? To buffet Him. To pound on him. What happened to Paul throughout his entire ministry? There was never a moment when He was not under threat of or actually being tortured, beaten, bruised, stoned, imprisoned, etc. In fact, Paul accentuates this when He says in the very same letter, "2Co 11:24-28
(24) Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
(25) Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
(26) In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
(27) In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
(28) Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches."
Think about this. The very same atonement for sin also atoned for physical sickness. I would point you to two scriptures. The first is prophetic of the atonement. The second is Matthew commenting on this very scripture.
Isa 53:4
(4) Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Mat 8:17
(17) That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
Jesus always healed. He never told someone, "Nope, sorry. This sickness is God's will. I will pray you can bear it brother."
So I guess my answer would be that we should always pray for healing since it is always God's will to heal.
Do all get healed who are prayed for? Not in my experience. Do I fully understand why? No, I don't. But it does not prevent me from seeing from scripture that it is part of the atonement and it is God's will.
By the way, what would any court in the land do to me if it was proven that I purposefully infected my children with, lets say, H1N1 for what I considered to be a redeeming purpose? What would you think of me?
I know that many would disagree with me, but this is what I see in scripture. I almost always pray for healing, and have seen some pretty awesome healings. The only exception is a case like my 84 year old grandfather who had prostate cancer. As long as he was standing for healing, I prayed earnestly for healing. When he gave up and said,"I just want to be with the Father. I am ready to go home.", I quit praying for healing. I cannot circumvent his will. I agreed with him that he go quickly.
Hope that helps.
Hi IWantAnguish...
Paul, Peter, and even Jesus seemed to have contradicted the notion that it is "God's will" to be sick. They healed the sick with regularity.
I think that there is a difference between remaining sick and considering such a status as being the physical condition that God wants or desires. That said: I do believe that God sometimes allows us to struggle or persevere through such conditions in order to achieve something even greater.
IWantAnguish:
Not at all trying to argue with Chris on this issue. I would add that I too agree that God allows us to struggle or persevere through all kinds of situations and conditions. It is solid scripture that the trying of our faith works in us endurance.
I just don't believe sin or sickness (both paid for in the atoning work of Christ)are one of these situations or conditions. However, God can take any situation in which we find ourselves and redeem it so that it works for our good.
Sickness is death in progress. It is a result of the fall. Since our physical bodies are not yet redeemed or glorified, we will always battle sickness. I just do not believe sickness to ever be caused by God, or to be God's will being worked in our lives. It is a work of the enemy, a result of sin, that we have to stand in prayer and faith against, relying on the atoning work of Christ. I have never been 100% successful in this battle, and I do not think anyone but Christ ever was. That being said, I myself rest in the fact that what is happening in my body is not God's will and stand in prayer and faith believing it to be God's will to heal me every time.
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