Praying for Healing
I have often noted that people do a lot of praying for healing. In most cases this prayer is for some kind of physical healing from some sort of ailment or condition. At the church I attend, there is always a portion of the service dedicated toward praying for others and much of that is praying for healing in others.
We know that Our Heavenly Father hears all our prayers. But, I have often observed that some people believe that those prayers have not yet been answered, and that they are waiting to get an answer. In many cases people who continue to suffer wait and pray patiently hoping for a resolution to their health problem.
It has always been my belief that God answers all prayers immediately, and continually. The problem is that we are sometimes unwilling, or unable to hear or accept the answer.
Many of you have probably heard the old story of a man who was stranded on his rooftop in the midst of a rising flood. He prayed to God to save him. While he was praying, a rescue boat pulled up to his house and the people in the boat called to him. He refused to get in the boat saying that God would rescue him. He then continued to pray as the waters continue to get higher. Then, a helicopter came over the house and a line was dropped down. Again, the man refused to accept help, saying he was waiting for God. Shortly after this, he drowned.
Upon arriving in heaven, he asked the Lord why he was allowed to drown even though he had prayed continuously for help. The Lord answered, “I did answer. I sent you a boat and a helicopter.”
Many people act very much the same way when it comes to their health. They pray for healing, yet they ignore an answer that is readily available. I can remember a young man and his wife coming in to see me years ago. He was suffering from terrible pain and was scheduled for spinal surgery in just a few days. In looking him over I determined that he had a problem that was commonly seen in my office, and I felt that he could be helped. When I told him this he said he and his wife would need to pray on this. He then began to pray right there in my office. He asked God to direct him on where he needed to go Unfortunately, after the prayer he left the office.
It struck me that he was already in my office, and that maybe God answered this prayer already by having him find his way to our clinic. Yet somehow, his skepticism about chiropractic care, coupled with his faith in the medical model of care prevented him from seeing that God had, figuratively, sent him a boat and a helicopter. A day later, he returned, started care, was able to cancel surgery, and eventually have a full recovery.
All healing comes from God. And since with God, everything is possible, then all healing is possible. There is no disease entity known to man that has not at some time undergone “spontaneous remission”. Even the most hopeless of cases has healed in certain people. We need to see that God has given us a magnificent body with all the things needed to be healthy. What is needed is that we listen to what he is saying and stop being stuck on the rooftop while refusing to see the help that is available.
I believe that the answer to our prayers for healing has been given to us before we even uttered the words. The problem is that we are sometimes unwilling or unable to hear, or accept that answer. The God-given power that made the body, heals the body, and it doesn’t happen any other way.