Troublesome Topic: Is Prayer for Healing True Prayer?
Lesson 4 of 8In regard to healing, I simply pray that God will glorify Himself. I know He will always answer that prayer, I just don’t know how or when. By praying that He glorify Himself I am allowing Him to choose whether that glorification comes through miraculous healing, perseverance, or the ultimate healing of taking His child home to be with Him.
If God shows me that His specific will for a given situation is to heal, I can claim that healing, but if He does not reveal that to me, I simply pray for Him to glorify Himself and leave the method of answering up to Him. How many beggars did Peter and John see on their way to the temple? We do not know, but we can assume there were others. But when they got to the gate called Beautiful God impressed on them that, in this case, He wanted to heal. In order to know His will we need to enjoy more time with Him. We also need to be willing to allow Him to work in a way that may not be our first choice.
So no, asking for healing is not true prayer because God has not obliged Himself to always heal. Healing is a favor. However, He will always answer the prayer to bring glory to Himself.
The next lesson is: Are Most of Our Prayer Requests True Prayer?