|
By
Gerald Cowan How does God respond to us when we pray
for someone who is having health issues and other issues? How are they
blessed? Will God always answer our prayers for others? We are taught to pray for one another
when we have health issues, including spiritual health as well as physical
health (James 5:13, 16). The promise of spiritual healing seems firm,
assuming that both the praying one and the one prayed for act in penitent
faith (James 5:16). We do offer prayers and intercessions for others (1 Tim.
2:1-4). We are not told that all our requests for others will be granted, or
that prayers for ourselves will invariably be granted. We can be sure that
asking is essential. Some things we do not get because we do not ask (James
4:2), but the request itself is not sufficient. Unwavering faith is also
essential (James 1:5-6). We are also told that improper motives will prevent
any positive answer to our requests (James 4:3). There is still more: the
mind and disposition – the faith and inclination toward God – of the person
prayed for must be considered too. God will not override the will of the
person we pray for. We may pray for changes in the person, not only physical
but mental and spiritual as well, that the person himself resists, refuses
and does not want. Our faith is tested in that we pray for
good things to happen and sometimes those good things do not happen. We pray
for bad things not to happen, or to be taken away, but those things come and
do not go away. God answers every prayer of His faithful people, but
sometimes the answer is and must be NO. Any prayer answered in the
affirmative for the faithful provides strength to endure what cannot be
changed or what God does not change (1 Cor. 10:13). But even when we do not
understand and when we do not get a yes answer, we keep on praying – we do
not faint or give up on God (Gal. 6:9-10). |
No comments:
Post a Comment