"And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."
James 5:15,16 (NIV)
I came to a personal decision several years ago while still an elder, that when a person asks me and the elders to pray for healing, that I would only pray for healing and NOT pray for God’s will. The other men can pray as the Spirit leads them but as for me, I will pray for healing and not pray for God’s will. It may seem strange to you; you may think to yourself: “Come on John, you want God’s will, not a person’s will! God knows the end from the beginning and He knows what is best! Trust Him and pray for His will.” Yet we have this example of Hezekiah before us to examine. He was told by Isaiah that God’s revealed will was that he die from his sickness - clearly the prophet Isaiah’s words are God’s Words! But Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, prayed and wept bitterly and God saw his tears, heard his prayer and turned Isaiah around and sent him back to Hezekiah with the message that he would be healed. Talk about changing God’s mind - talk about a righteous person’s powerful and effective prayer!
Now I hasten to add that Hezekiah’s previous prayers for a healing of his people (2 Chron 30:20) and for the deliverance of his people (2Kgs 19:15) had already been answered by God. This man had a track record with God; his heart trusted in God fully (2 Kgs 18:5) and he would pray prayers of faith, in line with God’s revealed will, interceding for those who were under his spiritual authority. This prayer for healing is different and because it is so obvious in the text that God changed His mind concerning Hezekiah’s date of death, I will pray as the sick person requests and trust God to sort out His inner workings.
What do you truly truly want? Do you want to be healed AND you want God’s will? Do you want God’s will more than you want healing? Do you want healing more than God’s will? Friend, Hezekiah wanted healing more than he wanted God’s will, and God answered his prayer.
Friend, will you accept some wisdom from me? Always pray in line with your heart, not in line with what you “think” God wants to hear. Trust God to work it out - He is quite capable of healing you and having His will done at the same time!
Click here to read 2 Kings 20; Isaiah 38
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