What Should I Pray For?

Ok, so how many of you want your children to have the plague? No? How about chickenpox? Anyone for chickenpox? Do I hear an “amen” for polio or diphtheria? Still no takers, huh? Then what is it that makes us think that God wants us to be sick? You know what I’m talking about: “Oh, I just heard that Joann has cancer. I wonder why God allowed that to happen to her. She’s such a wonderful Christian. He must be allowing her to use it to strengthen her faith and allow her to show non-Christians what He can do through these times.” Really? Come on! And if that’s not enough, we seem to think that God wants His people to continue to suffer. You think I’m kidding?

What about this: “Lord, I know that Robert is suffering from the heart condition that he has. Please be there to offer him comfort and peace and, if it’s Your will, heal his heart so that he can feel better.” If it’s Your will? What, you think God wants Robert to continue to suffer? If that’s true, maybe the atheists are right, maybe we’re praying to the wrong God.

So where am I going with this?

I’ll be honest with you; I’m not really sure what we should pray when a situation like this comes up. What I do know is that God doesn’t want us to suffer, in any way. Jesus makes that perfectly clear when He says, in Luke 11:11-13,

"If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

And so, if we would not wish it upon our children how is that we could think God, who loves us with a greater love than we could possibly imagine, would wish it upon us? And how is it that we could think that God would want us to remain in the sickness?

Why is it, then, that we are so afraid to pray what we really want: “God, I know that you don’t want Robert to be sick- knowing that he is your child. And so I ask that you remove this sickness from him. Heal him, oh Lord.”

Presumptuous? Not hardly. There are plenty of examples in the gospels of people who did just that. How about the centurion? Or the woman who touched Jesus’ tunic as He passed through the crowd? Or when Jesus removed the demon from the boy when the disciples could not? All these were healed with the statement of “Come and cure” – not jeez, I was thinking that if you had the time you might come by and take a look at this situation and maybe do something to help out. You know, if that’s what you want to do.” What I’m saying is, what happened to being bold before the Lord and, as His child, asking for something. Yes, I know that we are not deserving of the things we ask, but it’s not a question of whether or not we have done something to deserve His love. See, Jesus did it for us – we don’t have to. What we do have to do is come to Him with a faith that knows He loves us and wants what’s best for us. But that seems to be so hard for us.

Matthew 17:20-21

"So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Pretty strong statement and He makes it sound so easy. But why isn’t it? Why is it so hard for us to just believe? In the movie The Empire Strikes Back, Luke is given the task to raise his ship out of the bog. When he can’t do it, Yoda does. Luke’s response is “I don’t believe it.” Yoda replies, “And that is why you fail.” In Mark 11:20-24, we see a similar statement from Jesus:

"Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”

"So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

So what are we missing? Why is it that we don’t have the conviction to come to God in our time of need and ask for what we need? He already knows, doesn’t He? So why is it that our faith isn’t even the size of a mustard seed? Why is there “doubt in our heart”? Perhaps because we think of all those times that we did pray and “God didn’t answer” or “wasn’t listening” or “decided that wasn’t the way He wanted it”. And what happened then? Those who don’t believe were right there, ready to attack with “See, your god doesn’t care. If he did he would have…” or “you’re wasting your time. There’s nobody listening. If they were, they would have…” Maybe the fear isn’t from the outside, but from the inside. “Last time I prayed for this, it didn’t happen. Why should I believe it will happen this time?” “Why would God do this for me? I don’t deserve this.” This doubt is not your fault, really. See we are all human and that humanity is what causes the doubt to creep in. God knows that and that is why He sent His son, so that the humanity could be overcome. God looks at what’s inside us, not the outside. That’s the part that He is most concerned about. In Mark 7:14-23 Jesus reminds us:

“When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear Me, everyone, and understand: There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”

When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. So He said to them, “Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?” And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”

God’s concern is for the spirit within us, not the body that contains that spirit. Yes, that part is important, too. But God’s focus is on our spiritual self. And so, perhaps our prayers for those who are sick should be more for their spiritual self then for their physical being. The body can be killed and will pass away, but the spirit will live on forever. And when our focus is there, on the spirit of the person, that is when God can truly deliver that person from the pain and suffering they are going through because it is then that our faith is at its strongest, at a size even greater than a mustard seed. It is then that mountains are moved!