The Will of God Revisited

Imagine that one day I came by your house and gave you a discount card for your local supermarket. “Use that whenever you shop,” I say. “I’d like you to get discounts when doing your groceries.” The first time you came around and asked me, “Can I use the discount card today?”, I’d be amused and puzzled, but reply “Of course, that’s what I said, go ahead and use it.”

The second time you came to my home and asked the same question, I’d be slightly irritated, and say “Listen, I told you I wanted you to use the card, didn’t I!” The third time you came around, I’d begin to wonder if you were hard of hearing.

That’s the way it is with Biblical healing. I often feel we need to let go of myths we’ve been taught in the modern evangelical church. Here’s a small sampling of what God said about healing:

• (Deu 7:15 NIV) The LORD will keep you free from every disease.
• (Psa 103:1-3 NIV) Of David. Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. {2} Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits– {3} who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,”
• (Isa 53:4-5 NIV) Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. {5} But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
• (James 5:14-16 NIV) Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. {15} And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
• (1 Pet 2:24 NIV) He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

These are, as I said, a small sampling. I’ll publish a much more exhaustive list in another post. Is it me, or does the Word promise healing? Doesn’t this establish the will of God? Isn’t His will His Word?

To me therefore, it appears quite rude to attach the tag: “…if it be thy will”, to any prayer for healing, just as it would be ridiculous to keep coming back to ask me whether it was OK to use your discount card. Why then do we attach this qualifier? Because we’ve been taught to do so. Who taught our pastors the same? Their pastors…and on and on. However, that view is not supported by the Word.