“He who did not spare
his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him,
graciously give us all things?” Romans 8:32
Many Christians are unsure about what they should or should
not pray for. How bold should we be? Should we only pray for God’s will to be
done, or for what we truly desire? Because of my own life experiences, as well
as awesome books I’ve read such as The Holy
Bible and Paul Miller’s A Praying
Life, I will not give up asking for what I want most—complete physical
healing from this cancer so that I can grow old with my husband, finish raising
my children, and delight in precious days with future grandchildren. It wasn’t
much of a comfort to me when others prayed only for God to carry me through the
disease, or for His will to be done. I already knew that God’s grace would be
enough to get me through it, and I believed that His will would be done in any
case—He is sovereign, after all. What I really wanted to hear were prayers that
God would heal me completely, that He would remove every cancerous cell from my
body and restore me to perfect health. I believe that God wants us to ask for
what we desire most, and that it delights Him when we come to Him like little
children, asking boldly for what is most on our hearts.(Matthew 7:7) I also believe that He delights in giving us
the gifts that we want most. (Matthew 7:9-11) Furthermore, both the Old and New
Testament are filled with stories of physical healing, and He is the same God
today. But perhaps most important is the example that Jesus set when he prayed
in the garden of Gethsemane the evening before his crucifixion. He asked the
Father to “take this cup from me” (Mark 14:36) boldly asking God to spare him
while fully surrendering to God’s perfect will in the next sentence, “Yet not
what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36) We, too, can surrender our will
to His because we can trust Him in all things. If He removes the cancer from
us, we can praise Him for His wonderful gift, but if He does not, we can trust
that He has a greater plan, a higher purpose in mind, and we can still praise
Him for His perfect care for us. Either way, let us praise Him as we approach
the throne of grace with confidence.
Gracious and Sovereign
Lord, I come before You with a heart full of praise for the mercy and goodness
that You have shown me. You have blessed my life with so many good things, and
I will forever praise You. Forgive all my sins, and cleanse me through and
through. Take now this disease from my body, and restore me to perfect health.
Prepare my body and my life to be a temple for Your Holy Spirit, a living testimony
to the One Who Heals All Our Diseases. In the name of Your precious Son, Jesus
Christ, Amen.
