When praying to the one and only
true God, prayer is absolutely influential on healing, whether that healing is
physical or spiritual. Many people believe that prayer has the power to bring
physical healing. I believe this too. Many scientific studies have seen the
power of prayer heal many people. However, not every time we pray for physical
healing for ourselves or our loved ones does that mean that every person who
prays for healing with receive that healing. I believe that if you truly pray
for healing, you will find that healing in some way. There are many instances
where the power of prayer leads to a miracle and there are also instances where
prayer is still just as powerful; however, it does not always lead to complete
physical healing. Sometimes the real healing that needs to happen before
physical healing is the healing of the heart. Other times healing comes when Jesus
takes that loved one home to be with Him.
I
want to dig deeper, not into what science has to say about the power of prayer
proving to heal people from physical illness and injury, but instead I want to
look at how prayer is still powerful even when physical healing is not seen. I
had written before that my mom had passed away after battling cancer for 19
years. I had grown up in a Christ centered family. Both my mom and my dad were
the strongest Christians I had ever met. We went to a church that loved the
Lord and prayed diligently to Him for the healing of my mom. My whole family
prayed for the healing of the Lord with faith that He would indeed heal her.
Through my prayers, I started to experience Christ in a way I had never
experienced Him before. He started to prepare my heart for something I wouldn’t
be able to go through on my own. I constantly prayed for the Lord to heal my
mom. Although my mom wasn’t healed from her disease here on earth does not mean
that Christ did not hear my prayer. I believe he healed her body by making it
new in heaven. Some people have proposed many ideas to why people are not
healed from their disease that they prayed the Lord would heal them of. Some of
these ideas include “personal sin (Isaiah 59:2), not forgiving others (Mark
11:25), a lack of faith (James 1:5–8), rejecting God’s law (Proverbs 28:9), or
a lack of compassion (Proverbs 21:13).” However, “another response is that the
request did not accord with God’s will”(Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic). I believe that it is important to pray
for God’s healing; however, I think it is even more important to pray that the
Lord’s will be done in our lives.
While,
prayer did not physically heal my mom of her disease, prayer brought comfort
and peace to her heart and to mine as well. After the death of my mom, through
prayer, the Lord mended and healed my broken heart. The Lord will always heal
in some way if we truly pray for healing, whether it is physical healing,
cognitive healing, or spiritual healing.
I appreciate your take on the usefulness of prayer, for healing physically and spiritually. One could hardly imagine how intimately you have experienced the realities of losing a loved one, despite faithful prayer. Your testimony of how Christ prepared you for your mothers passing is touching to say the least; I learned something of faith as a result of reading your post. Your view of the usefulness of prayer in hardship to build trust with Christ is perhaps more mature then those who have yet to experience the reality of loss as you have. I understand for you, faith is enough, the closeness you have with Christ seems more then mere faith, a tangible thing; a truth. I suppose when the scientific community seems to seek proof of the power of prayer it contradicts the purpose of prayer in growing our faith. But as you said, Prayer can change things physically as well as spiritually. What if we gave them that proof? Proof such as the double blind data taken from the studies on the effectiveness of the Christian prayer? Would it change anything for the bias mind, perhaps not, but maybe we should give them the data anyways.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! This reminded me of Christ's prayer when he asked that "this cup pass from him." He did not want to suffer the wrath of God, but knew that was not God's will. It is not wrong to ask for something as long as we ultimately want God's will. That is why Christ prayed "not mine will, but yours." Our will ultimately needs to be God's will above all.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post! It allowed me to embrace the power of the process in prayer. Often, we may become overly focused on the outcomes and hopes of our prayers. Furthermore, when our prayers are not fulfilled to our wishing...His grace is sufficient. Thanks again!
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