In Reply to: Demands on God. posted by MG on November 21, 2004 at 04:15:06:
You say, "it’s not my place to be presumptuous and assume that it’s God’s will for them to recover, or to even suggest or hint that."
But if we don't start with some basic assumption that God is willing for us to be healed, don't we assume that He is less than impartial in His dealings with us? If we doubt that healing is His will, don't we risk being in rebellion for seeking treatment that may be against His will?
What use is it to pray "if it be your will"? If God is just going to do what He wants to anyway, regardless of what might matter to us, or how we might pray, what's the point in praying at all? And if praying won't work, what good can we expect to come from sending our own positive thoughts and energy?
I'm convinced that the answers to these questions are found in the ministry of Jesus. He never turned down a single person who came to him for healing. He never witheld healing until they "got the victory".
Only one person is recorded to have said to Jesus, regarding healing, "if it be thy will" (Mt. 8:10, Mk. 1:40, Lk. 5:12). In the Greek, the man says, "An thelis" -- "If you want to". Jesus answered, "Thelo" -- "I want to".
It sounds humble to say we don't want to make demands on God. But if He has specifically and freely committed himself to making something important available to us when we need it, then that's not demanding.
Healing is the exact same word, in many scriptures, as the word for salvation. When we see this, it becomes clear that the same action, on Christ's part, that provided for our salvation, also provided for our healing. The Family's teaching nullifies half of this equation, since they say that salvation is free, but healing has to be earned.
"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Ro. 8:32