“Is anyone among your suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” (James 5:13-15 ESV)
The same principle we looked at in yesterday’s post applies to praying for health. Praying for an 80-year-old with a cold to have perfect health isn’t realistic. And yes, I know there are those who believe as long as you’re breathing you should have perfect health, that it’s “God’s will.” Call me a doubter, but I don’t believe that’s what the Bible teaches.
We’re all going to die of something, so, understanding that nothing enters my life except it passes through the filter of God’s permission helps me to understand that, not in spite of, but because of my disease, God’s intention in allowing me to have Alzheimer’s may be the devil’s attempt to push me away from God, but God’s design is to draw me nearer to Him. It’s in our weakness that He’s exalted, not, as a rule, in our strength.
He’s teaching me things in this season of my life I’ve never seen in Scripture before. That’s what has prompted this article. I’ve never seen prayer as I see it now, not as a tool in my hands to get more out of God, but a tool in God’s hands to give us more of Himself. It’s all a matter of perspective. If I’m on the throne of my own life, then it makes perfect sense that I should seek to use God to get whatever I want. Wow! That’s a win-win if there ever was one! And then throw in heaven on top of that! Who wouldn’t go for a deal like that?
There’s just one problem – it’s not backed by Scripture. The purpose of prayer isn’t to get our way, or even to get things from God, it’s to help us see what the Lord is seeking to accomplish in, through, and on our behalf, so that He can have His way, letting us be helped and blessed, and His Father glorified.
The emphasis isn’t on us, but the Father. He is the goal of our asking, so, to the extent what we ask Jesus to give us exalts, honors, and magnifies the Father, to that extent we are blessed and the Father is glorified. We cannot forget the purpose of prayer: “So the Son can bring glory to the Father.” That’s why Jesus said to ask in His name.
We pray, not simply for answers, but for intimacy with the Father, which can only happen through the sacrifice of prayer. And answers won’t come, whether material or spiritual if our focus is on us. The irony is, God will open the floodgates of heaven to give us anything we ask when our heart is fixed on Him. Intimacy, closeness to God, grows out of devotion, trust, faithfulness, and love.
When our top priority is knowing the Lord, the most prominent desire of our heart is more of Him – to see Him more clearly, to hear Him as we listen more intently, and to walk with Him more nearly. That for which we ask for ourselves will always grow out of our desire to experience those three things, because they are the reason for our prayers.
Al Mohler wrote: “There is no true intimacy with God without prayer.” And the focus of our prayers must be the Father’s glory, not ours.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 