"There are some who seem to think that if we had sufficient faith when we ask God in prayer to heal the sick and afflicted, we could say unconditionally to the sick, "Arise and walk," just as Christ said to the sick of the palsy, and they would rise up at our command, in response to our or their faith. There are others who shrink from praying for the sick, because they feel that God turns a deaf ear to their prayers when He does not answer the specific form of their request in behalf of the sick and in response to their faith.
One thing is well settled in the Scriptures, and that is that God does answer prayer. We need to consider the questions : What is prayer? What constitutes an answer to prayer ? Are prayers answered unconditionally? When we approach God in prayer, we must recognize that He is an infinite God—infinite in wisdom—and that we are finite and "know not what we should pray for as we ought." God alone knows what is best for us ; we do not. Christ made this very evident in His own prayers to His Father, in behalf of Himself as well as others. Praying in harmony with the will of God is fundamental when we approach God. He allows no finite being to bind His hands, coerce His will, or question His wisdom arid justice.
When the messenger of death begins to reach for the cords of life in your child, you go to God in prayer and ask God to spare him. In agony you plead with God. You love your child, but you must remember that your love for your child is finite love. God's love for your child and His child is infinite love. You can plead with God, but you must not dictate to Him, for you do not know the child's future as He knows it. If the child dies, do not turn against God in bitterness and accuse Him that He turned a deaf ear to your prayer and earnest entreaties.
Suppose you asked God for the life of your child so that you might enjoy mutual companionship and fellowship through as long a period of time as possible. But suppose your heavenly Father saw that your companionship for a few years in this short life would mean endless separation from your child in the world to come, whereas a brief separation on this earth would mean eternal companionship in the life to come. God would perhaps answer your prayer by a denial of companionship now, so that you might enjoy eternity together, under conditions far superior to your present environment.
Suppose you asked for your child's life, not only for your own selfish enjoyment and companionship, but that the child might live for a high and noble purpose and prove a great blessing to the world ; yet your child died in spite of your earnest wishes expressed to God. Do not conclude that God did not answer your prayer. Did you not pray that your child might fulfill a high and noble purpose and prove a great blessing to the world? If God, who is all-wise, saw that you really had the future happiness and welfare of your child at heart when you yearned that your highest ambitions for him might be realized, and honor and blessing might be showered upon him, your prayer was answered when He substituted for your present dreams a career in the world to come. Moreover, perhaps He saw that the child's death would result in increased self-sacrifice, devotion, and consecration in the lives of his remaining friends.
Prayer Answered in Light of Eternity
God answers our prayers in harmony with our best interests, not only for time but for eternity. Prayer must be answered by God in the light of eternity. This brings me to the question, What is prayer ? Prayer is not dictation. A refusal of a specific and unconditional request is not an injustice. If it were an injustice, then the petition would not be a prayer but a claim. If a man owes me a claim, I do not pray him to pay it; I demand payment. If he refuses to pay, he denies not my prayer but my demand. We dictate only when we have the right to exercise power and authority. We pray when we are suppliants without a right to dictate. Dictation means independence and the power to impose one's will; prayer means dependence without any right to push a claim.
Prayer means asking God in Christ's name. "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do." Every prayer in Christ's name is answered. But you say, "I know of a mother who prayed to God in Christ's name for the life of her child, and that prayer was not answered. The child died." No; that mother did not pray to God in Christ's name, or her prayer would have been answered. But you answer, "Yes, I heard her say, Tor Christ's sake' and 'In Christ's name I ask this favor.'" That may all be true, but saying, "In Christ's name," is not necessarily praying in Christ's name. It is not what that mother said to God, but what Christ authorized her to say. Praying according to God's will is praying in Christ's name That is the only kind of prayer Christ prayed while here on earth in His own behalf—"Not as I will, but as Thou wilt."
Let me illustrate what it means to pray in Christ's name. I go to the bank to draw some money. There is no money in the bank in my name, but there is a deposit there in my friend's name. I ask for money in his name. The banker demands that I show evidence that my friend has authorized me to ask for his money. If I cannot produce the evidence, I get no money. If I produce the evidence, the banker hands me the money. But who is to certify to the banker that I have the authority to draw in my friend's name, I or my friend? If I say I want it in his name, that statement will avail me nothing with the banker unless I can produce evidence and can prove to the banker that my friend has authorized me to ask for his money.
When I appear before God in prayer, He knows whether I am asking in Christ's name or not, but I do not know until I see the results of my prayer. When I appear before the banker I know in advance whether I am asking in my friend's name, but the banker does not know until I present the evidence. Not every wish or want brought to God is in reality a prayer. Only such requests as Christ authorizes in His name are honored by God as prayers, because they are based on the one condition on which God can answer prayer—"Not as I will, but as Thou wilt."
This being the basis for all answered prayers, it must follow that when the mother asked for the life of her child unconditionally, it was not a real prayer but only her own ardent wish and desire, irrespective of the consequences. If she had asked according to God's will, her prayer would have had the authority of Christ in His own name. Then the wish of Christ would have become the wish of the mother also, and there would have been an answer to her prayer whether the child had lived or died. It is impossible for God to deny a real prayer made to Him in Christ's name, just as impossible as it is for Him to lie or to break His own promises or frustrate His word. Christ's will and God's will are one, and every prayer offered to God according to God's will in Christ's name, is answered in harmony with God's will. That alone is a real prayer which is willing to leave the results in the hands of God.
Therefore none should hesitate to come to God and pray for themselves or for others when they are sick and afflicted, provided they are willing to leave the final results with a merciful God, who loves us with an infinite love, who will allow nothing "to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." We may be sure that God has something better in store for us when our specific request is not granted. Paul prayed thrice that his affliction might be removed, but the Lord informed him that it was necessary for his own good to retain his affliction, and that He would give him sufficient grace to bear up under the trial. When the Lord gives you His abundant grace to sustain you and keep you through the trial, He is performing a greater miracle than if He healed you. It takes more of God's power to sustain a person in a great affliction than it would take to remove the affliction.
Something Better in Store
Martha and Mary sent a messenger, requesting Christ to come and heal Lazarus, who was sick unto death. But Jesus purposely tarried ; He did not respond. That particular request was not answered in the way they wanted it answered. Jesus had something better in store for them and for Lazarus—something that would enable God to glorify His Son to a far greater extent than a mere healing would have done. When Jesus plainly informed His disciples that Lazarus was dead, He said : "I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe."
If Christ had been there, Lazarus would not have died. Death flees from the presence of the Life-giver. Christ was anxious to do something far greater and better than work a miracle of healing. When He raised Lazarus to life after four days in the grave, He performed the crowning miracle of all miracles, and His disciples now had the evidence that Jesus was the life and the resurrection—the great I AM. When your particular request for healing is denied by the Lord, you can always be sure that He has something far better in store for you, which will glorify both His Son and you.
Moses wanted to live and lead God's people into the Promised Land. "I pray Thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan." "But," said Moses, "the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me. The Lord said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more to Me of this matter." Moses could not enter the Promised Land. He must die, but God had something far better in store than what he prayed for. God permitted Moses to enter a far better land than the country of Palestine—a heavenly country—to dwell in the presence of God, the Son of God, and the holy angels. Moses had the honor of being the first man of the entire human race to experience a resurrection from the dead and to enjoy an eternal inheritance where trouble and sin could not enter.
If God does not grant your request, be sure He will deal with you in a way that will give you far more than your original request implied. Paul says, "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."
