Pray Without Ceasing VIII Praying for Health and Wealth

Pray Without Ceasing VIII

Praying for Health

2 Cor 12:7-10 & Misc.

 In our day, the health and wealth Gospel, which in the end is not good news at all, has infected the thinking of many in Christianity and the sects and cults that have grown up around it. Many otherwise well-meaning Christians think sickness or trial is a sure sign of God's disapproval or is evidence of God's chastening hand lying in a heavy way upon the afflicted one. They come to believe that all trouble and trial is a sign of some sin the person must have committed. It is an unkind, ungracious and anti-gospel perspective. Many times trials, afflictions and various forms of suffering, including sickness are sent from God with purpose. Sometimes, affliction comes to us because God loves us and seeks to teach us important realities that we would not otherwise learn.

God does not always want each and every Christian to be well. Sometimes his will as regards our health is very different than we might think. It is through suffering and affliction that Providence teaches us lessons we would not otherwise learn. A friend of mine sent me his notes for a sermon he titled, "God Wants You Sick." It is a compelling message for today to comfort those who suffer the common experiences of humans since the Fall of man. We are supposed to experience some degree of it. Most of us will die after going through some degree of decay or suffering. Then our end will come. So, there are times, touching health and well-being, that we might be praying in ways that are wrong. Ever since the fall of the first man, ADAM, all humans suffer because of the general effects of sin. Sometimes, suffering comes because of particular sins we commit. But, that is not universally true. And, when trials come into our life, it is because of God's Fatherly love for his children--Heb 12:6. There are times when God sends suffering in sovereign ways and there are times when he sends suffering for our good and his own glory.

When we pray for those who are sick and otherwise infirmed, we should remember to pray "God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Suffering is the doorway of heaven. Suffering should make us long for heaven--even making us cry, "Even so, come Lord Jesus." When we pray that short prayer, we implicitly pray that God will come for us or someone else particularly as he brings believers into His presence and the presence of Jesus forever. Or, that Jesus would soon return to deliver all of the faithful from the silliness and sinfulness of life in this world, which includes sickness, all kinds of suffering and affliction.

In the Topical Bible I often consider when putting thematic sermons together, there are a number of sections under the heading of Providence and Suffering.   1. Providence delivers from Suffering (15 or so verses), 2. Providence Permits Suffering (23+ verses); 3. Providence Sends Suffering (15); 4. Providence Sustains in Suffering (16); 5. Providence teaches and Refines through Suffering (15 or so). There are other topics under which sickness, affliction, suffering and other related topics are found.

That said, it is an area for prayer. But, it is not as important as the spiritual topics we have been looking at--it is of lesser importance, but not unimportant like the health and wealth people would like us think. Suffering and death are ordinary experiences of all people, including those who trust in Christ. These contrary experiences of life in this veil of tears are designed for the good of those who believe in Jesus. God works all things, ALL THINGS including sickness in us, our family and those we love, together for the good of those who love him….Couple that with the command in 1 Thess 5:18 to give thanks in everything, we should be prayerful about these things--even to the point where we thank God for sending all things for our good.

And as we are to glorify Him in all things (1 Cor 10:31) Doesn't it follow that we should seek to glorify God when providence sends, allows or seeks to teach us through suffering? To glorify God is to make his weightiness to be considered by others and to show the brightness of God's brilliance to others. We show our trust in God to do right by us, no matter what. It makes people think deeply in many ways when we confess our thanksgiving to God and our trust in him to do what is right, even when we may not fully understand--God does. He knows and understands why all things come to pass. In his omniscience and all-powerfulness, God uses these experiences for our good and for his glory.

The main way we should pray about these experiences is to thank and praise God for them. It is so contrary to how we think. But, that is consistent with what we find in the Word as our posture in believing prayer. Lord, teach us to always pray.

Remember Paul's thorn in the flesh? Why did God send this to Paul? Why did a sovereign God make Paul suffer in such an uncomfortable manner? If we believe whatever God does he does for our good and to glorify himself, why does suffering happen among believers? Turn if you have your Bible to 2 Cor 12:7-10.

As an apostle, Paul had the gift to heal people. He used it on a few occasions early in his ministry. But more and more, we find him using it less and less.

Instead of praying after laying hands on Timothy.  Paul gives medical advice consistent with his day. Paul wrote to Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach's sake. Paul didn't say, I've prayed for your wellness. He didn't call down a miracle for his son in the faith. He wrote in an epistle that would have taken a few weeks to get to its destination, to have a little wine to settle your sour stomach. A few weeks ago we read how Paul had left one of his apostolic band in Miletus, sick. Couldn't Paul have prayed after laying on hands that this man would be healed? In God's providence there were other actions that were just as good and godly. Even in the time of the Apostles, with the greater use of miraculous gifts than we see at the end of their time and into our own, not everybody received divine healing. That was never God's purpose. Miracles especially accompanying the life of Christ were to attest to his uniqueness as God and man. The abilities were wonders for that age of transition between the Old and NEW covenants. Paul's major ailment is an example of this. It is important for us to consider as part of this topic related to praying always. We read:

2Cor. 12:710 ¶ And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.

Paul had spiritual insight into the purpose for his affliction. God permitted it, as He permitted Job to be afflicted many years earlier.

Paul was used as the agent of God's revelation. He wrote at least 12 NT books. And, there were other letters that did not make their way into the canon of Scripture. God allowed what Paul calls, "A thorn in the flesh." It was something that gave Paul a near constant pain. It if never lightened, it was continuous, if he knew times of relief, then it was only continual. But, either way, those of you who have had great times of pain, or regular nagging pain, should be able to identify with Paul. I've had kidney stones, too many to remember. But, with modern technology, I do not have to suffer always--there are ways of diminishing the pain, treating the stones and removing them that makes the prospect of lessened or mitigated pain, not only possible, but actual. I don't know what Paul's malady was, but I understand the metaphor--a thorn in the flesh to afflict him.

Why? Lest he think too highly of himself. This gives us a little insight into one of Paul's temptations--pride, or being puffed up and exalted. It was a very real temptation for Paul. So that he wouldn't be tempted to be proud and overconfident in himself, this thorn was given to him. We do not always know why we have one struggle or another. Sometimes, we might have an idea. Paul was convinced, he continues:

        8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.

What did Paul do when he first had this ailment, or at least sometime early in its manifestation? He did what we have been talking about--he prayed. And, he didn't just pray once, he gave himself to what seems to be a time or a period of praying three times. It was that important to the Apostle who had prayed in his ministry and others were healed. He prayed that the thorn would leave him. Actually, it says, He pleaded. Paul prayed long and fervently about this. But, in the end, it was not an obsession. He had confidence that God would use it or keep him through it. Sometime after that third time of fervent pleading, the Lord revealed himself to Paul….

        9 And He said to me,  “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

God's message for Timothy was not that He would remove the thorn as an answer to his prayer. The answer was something else, and an answer that we might not like if it were God's answer to us--but more often than not it is, we don't see it because we are expecting some other answer in accord with our own desires. God wanted Paul to be weak so that the power of God would be evident in the keeping and sustaining power of God.

Jesus said, My grace is sufficient. That means, the favor and goodness I will give you and work through you will be enough, it will be all you need to do the work among the Gentiles that I have called you to. What a wonderful promise. This is how God always works--through his principle of grace--giving his unmerited favor. Paul didn't deserve this grace. It was for his good and the Glory of God in the gospel effects in Paul's life. Yet, let me add this all-important point--the sustaining grace of God given to Paul was as miraculous than any healing Paul may have desired at an earlier time in his life. God's grace that brings about salvation, sanctification and special effects in our Christian lives, it miraculous, though not in the spectacular way people may want. People want the direct work of God upon them that is flashy, sensual and makes people go, "WOW!" When, God's sustaining grace is part of the ordinary Christian life. The extraordinary maintaining of our life is a daily, if not momentous miracle that has become ordinary to us.

I am so thankful to realize the strength of Christ in me when I don't feel like taking another step, feel like rolling out of bed or taking more steps. But, God provides what I need. I'm here by the grace of God…… And, so are you! We are often too quick to give in to our ailments--I mean those that aren't going to infect others with a sickness that is communicable. Or, because we think someone else will be. Worship ought to be the height of our week's existence. I believe God's grace will be given to us in special measure in order that we will do what not only God commands, but what is pleasing to him--to use human terms for our limited understanding.

Paul continues:

9b Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

What is it to boast in something? It is to brag about it, to talk about it often. I don't mind answering people who ask me how I am doing by telling them, I am thankful for God's sustaining grace as I go on to more information.

I didn't use to think so, but I have come to understand these next phrases of Paul:

        10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

This verse alone refutes so much of what the prosperity gospel people want to tell us to confuse our godly thinking. God's answer to Paul's prayer was, a big and certain, "NO! I have something ultimately better for you. I am going to do something else that will give you godly pleasure. And, this will be in some situations of life that you might not ordinarily look for: infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses. And, Paul all of these will be for Christ’s sake--they are for his cause to make his grace known through you by its work in you."

To this Paul adds another summary realization:  "For when I am weak, then I am strong."

What a blessed paradox it is, to be strong in spiritual realities, be weak in your own flesh.

If we were to go through the gospels, we would find Jesus healing all who come to him. He brought the glory of God down to this earth. Many followed him that they might be a part of his administration when we would become King over all the Earth. They were "WOWED" by the miraculous. When Jesus didn't meet their expectations, they left him. John 6:66-67 are some of the most sobering words in the life of Christ. The multitudes departed when Jesus would not accept being king on their term. The only ones who remained were the disciples. Peter answered Jesus question about what the disciples would do with these words: To whom will we go. You alone have the words of life.

In our day that seeks after personal experiences of pseudo-spirituality, just like the multitude of old, we don't need false signs and wonders as Paul calls them in his letter to the Thesslonians. What we need is Jesus, in his simplicity, beauty, truth and grace. We don't need perfect health--we need trust in Jesus that his work in us by his Spirit will be as we should expect it to be--manifesting the fruit of the spirit in works of true righteousness and justice.

When we pray for the sick, we should pray for the good in spiritual realities, first and foremost. Then, pray, if the Lord wills, for the good of their bodies. The soul is of greater value to the savior, while the physical is still important to accomplish his work, or as an ordinary part of life.

Remember, as the Lord said, No, to Paul, that might  be his answer to us. Accept that answer as a grace to you. He knows what is best and what will glorify himself the most among men and women. Pursue treatment to get well. It may be God's will to sustain you using modern medical technologies. It is not a sin to seek treatment. Just do it with faith believing whether you are made well or not, a Sovereign God who loves you and knows you will do Good as he glorifies himself. Pray for his will to be done. And, even as you boast in your infirmities, that through your influence, the Kingdom of Christ might expand a little.

AMEN!!