healings on the way to the massage parlor
before we got to the massage place, we began praying for men on the street - one's back was healed, another man's legs were healed. Also one man's neck was healed. The focus was all about Jesus (again, mostly hindus) as we explained whose power it was that was touching them.
there was one man who wasn't healed - and to be honest, it was quite frustrating. we prayed for him maybe 6 or 7 times. others were getting healed, but he wasn't. My son prayed for him, my nephew and father-in-law also prayed, but we got absolutely no breakthrough. What was hard was to hear his reasoning. He said, "Maybe Jesus doesn't want to heal me". We assured him that this wasn't the case. Then he thought, "maybe it's not His timing" - sounds like some Christians I know trying to explain why something doesn't happen when we prayed. In the end, I asked if he had a Christian friend; he did. I told him to have him pray for you when you see him.
"Lord, heal this hindu man and reveal yourself to him, Amen"
LoL! DJ thanks for your awesome testimonies! I laughed when I read this "'maybe it's not his timging' - sounds like some Christians I know trying to explain why something doesn't happen when we prayed"
ReplyDeleteWhat is your explanation for why the man wasn't healed? Are you saying neither of those two reasons are ever valid? (the two reasons being a) Jesus doesn't want to heal or b) it's not his timing).
your questions are obviously bigger than can be handled in a comment - i deal with these in several of my podcasts (http://joel2generation.podomatic.com).
ReplyDeletein short, the one time Jesus was asked "are you willing"?, what was His answer? I believe it is God's will to heal - Jesus never refused anybody who came to him for healing. He never told them "it wasn't God's timing". Sure there are many reasons why people don't get healed, but the "It's not God's will" or "it's not God's timing" are just not supported reasons/explanations when we look carefully at the ministry of Jesus. He said, "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father". What did He do to sickness/pain/physical conditions when He was confronted with them? He healed them. Is it POSSIBLE that either of these explanations could be behind a healing not happening? Sure, BUT if God was going to act so differently than He acted in and through the Life of Jesus, wouldn't He REVEAL that He is doing (or in this case, NOT DOING) something so exceptional to His normal mode of operation? Same thing with untimely deaths. Psalms 90 says we are given 70 years (minimally) and then we have an upper limit of 120 set in the OT. Why do people assume that when someone dies before 70 that it was/is God's will/timing? Why did Jesus raise people from the dead? or the Apostles? Were they messing with God's timing ("it is appointed once for man to die and then comes judgement") OR were those peoples' deaths untimely?? Why are we commanded to "raise the dead" (Matt. 10)? Exaggerated notions of God's sovereignty and control have been propagated in the name of truth ever since Augustine - this has killed more Kingdom ministry than probably any other single false teaching!