(My sweetie with her sweetie)Today we received an answer from God via the UW Medical Center: yes, we can do that surgery tomorrow (Dec 20) and not have to wait until next year. This really mattered to us for insurance reasons (hello, big deductible). The doctors had said to Lynne, over and over again throughout the fall, “Forget it.” Healing times, the tightness of their surgical schedules, and other factors all seemed to spell clearly the need for this surgery later, as in February. But Lynne and many of you prayed for a swifter date, and that’s exactly what happened this morning.
Amidst this immense celebrating (Lynne and I danced around the room and popped some cheap champagne), a theological question raised its ugly head—did God make this happen as a response to our prayer? Here’s what I mean: God heals so much and so many every single day, routinely, but no less miraculously. We take for granted his “daily healing,” whether it’s a child’s cut on a finger (get the Bactine!) or our bodies purging tumors in ways we’re unaware of. God is at work in our bodies daily. In addition, what if God saw Lynne’s cancer and predicament and had already decided to speed the surgery before we prayed? We don’t know. We won’t know, until we see Him in heaven. He might say, “I already set up the healing in the scheme of things,” or, “I decided to intervene in the surgical calendar because I felt bad for you guys,” or, “I decided to respond directly to your prayer.” Or something else I didn’t think of.
The point is this: I need to be grateful for the power of God, regardless of whether or not he exactly responded to my prayer. I’m not trying to devalue prayer, which the scriptures tell us are powerful and effective. In fact, we need to pray more, and more faithfully! I’m just trying to say that speculating on the relative power of my prayers is the wrong focus—I just need to stay focused on the power and care of God. It’s his power, not mine. It’s his will, not mine. He’s in control, not me and my prayers.
Amidst this immense celebrating (Lynne and I danced around the room and popped some cheap champagne), a theological question raised its ugly head—did God make this happen as a response to our prayer? Here’s what I mean: God heals so much and so many every single day, routinely, but no less miraculously. We take for granted his “daily healing,” whether it’s a child’s cut on a finger (get the Bactine!) or our bodies purging tumors in ways we’re unaware of. God is at work in our bodies daily. In addition, what if God saw Lynne’s cancer and predicament and had already decided to speed the surgery before we prayed? We don’t know. We won’t know, until we see Him in heaven. He might say, “I already set up the healing in the scheme of things,” or, “I decided to intervene in the surgical calendar because I felt bad for you guys,” or, “I decided to respond directly to your prayer.” Or something else I didn’t think of.
The point is this: I need to be grateful for the power of God, regardless of whether or not he exactly responded to my prayer. I’m not trying to devalue prayer, which the scriptures tell us are powerful and effective. In fact, we need to pray more, and more faithfully! I’m just trying to say that speculating on the relative power of my prayers is the wrong focus—I just need to stay focused on the power and care of God. It’s his power, not mine. It’s his will, not mine. He’s in control, not me and my prayers.
4 comments:
This Good News is truly an answered prayer! I think of the scripture(can't remember where), "you don't have because you don't ask". Many times I've considered, "Why this?", or "Why now?", both with the good news and the bad. I think you said it well, Bro, that our job is to believe, and let that belief lead us to our knees, and the rest is totally God. Amen!
Good news indeed!
How great is it that we get to participate in the doings of God by praying? Since we humans are so powerless... just by the sheer act of praying... by asking... we may or may not contribute to the outcomes of God. We are the petitioners.
I envision God ... Him knowing the outcome of all things... how amazing is it that God hears all prayers? Much like Jesus hearing the yells of the people in the streets to touch them and heal them.
(I'm currently reading "Prayer - Does It Make Any Difference" by Philip Yancey. I think you'd like it.)
Thank u for these comments!
It is good to connect again through your blog. God is truly amazing. Faith of a mustard seed moves mountain. All I need is to move myself to pray. Thanks for sharing the great news.
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