Praying for Healing

“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.