Prayer that heals always glorifies God
The Bible Speaks to You Podcast is officially five years old. I started it back in the fall of 2019. It has continued to grow and thrive largely because of you, my listeners. This week we quietly went over the 5 year mark, and I just want to say Thank You!
Is there anything in your life right now that you’re praying about for healing? Or maybe you’re praying for healing for someone else. It could be a health issue, a relationship problem, finding a new job, financial struggles, or maybe an emotional challenge.
God is a God who heals
The Bible is full of so many types of healings from the Old Testament and especially in the New Testament. God is a healing God.
In fact, one of the ways David identifies God is as a healer. David says, or maybe I should say David sings,
Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:2-5 NIV
Just look at the all-encompassing ways God heals every aspect of our lives: He forgives sin, He heals disease, He redeems life from destruction and past mistakes, He crowns us with love and compassion, He satisfies our deep spiritual desires with good, and He renews our spirit.
Healing is not just getting over a sickness or disease. The fullness of God’s healing brings out wholeness and peace of mind in every facet of our lives.
Prayer that heals in your life
I know from talking to a lot of you who listen to the podcast, there’s a lot of healing going on in your lives. I hope you have been experiencing God’s healing presence in one way or another. It’s something to be immensely grateful for. I look back at some of the ways God has healed me or a family member or solved a relationship problem, or met a financial need, and so many others ways. I am deeply grateful.
But to be completely honest, not every time I have prayed for healing, have I seen healing—well, at least not the way I was hoping to see. It can be humbling to realize that I am not the one to tell God what the outcome of my prayer should be.
That said, I do believe Jesus has, not just given us permission to pray for healing, but expects us to follow his footsteps of turning to God in prayer expecting healing to be the result.
In fact, he made it quite clear he knew we can follow his example.
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. John 14:12 NIV
What is your motive when you pray?
But Jesus warns us in the Sermon on the Mount about the importance of our motives when we pray.
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Matthew 6:5-7 NIV
Nothing can ruin a good prayer like trying to impress others with what you say (or write) in your prayer. Jesus wants us to have an honest and private conversation with God. And he wants us to keep it simple and not try to impress God with our long winded prayers.
Right after this advice for praying, Jesus gives us a perfect prayer template. We have ended up turning it into a prayer itself and call it the Lord’s Prayer.
Lord’s Prayer: A prayer that heals
But when you look at the structure of this prayer template, it’s easy to see that it’s really all about God and how God takes care of and redeems us, kind of like that passage from Psalms I read a few minutes ago.
Jesus starts the Lord’s Prayer by praising God’s holy nature, and acknowledging His kingdom and supremacy in heaven and earth.
In a nutshell, this is the highest motive for prayer: to glorify God.
How many times when you’re praying for healing or anything else, do you jump right in and pray to get your problem solved? We ask God to change something, fix something, heal something, but that’s not how Jesus wants us to start our prayers. Our first thoughts should be to acknowledge God’s glory. And that’s the way the Lord’s Prayer ends as well.
Motives for praying
There are lots of reasons you might be praying for healing, for yourself or someone else, a church or community problem, or a national or global issue.
You may be moved with compassion, as Jesus was, and want to bring healing to people and situations. Love for mankind is a wonderful motive for prayer.
You may want to bless someone and help them discover God’s healing presence for themselves. This also is a wonderful reason to pray for healing.
But the absolute most powerful motive when you pray for healing is for God to be glorified.
Hezekiah’s prayer that “heals”
Last week in my daily Bible study was the story of Hezekiah, who was king of Judah when Jerusalem was threatened by the King of Assyria. This was not an idle threat. The King of Assyria had defeated other kings in the area and no one had been able to defeat him. Hezekiah was deeply troubled by all this.
You can read the whole story in 2 Kings, Chapter 18 and Chapter 19.
The heart of the story for me, and the turning point is when Hezekiah goes into the Temple and prays:
Now, LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, LORD, are God. 2 Kings 19:19 NIV
“…so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, LORD, are God.” That was the real motive for his prayer.
Immediately after this, the prophet Isaiah sends a message to Hezekiah,
This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.
Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: “‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’ ” 2 Kings 19:20, 32-34 NIV
Hezekiah’s higher motive
Hezekiah wasn’t praying just to be delivered from the King of Assyria. He had a much broader perspective on what was going on and how this would be perceived in the whole region, and maybe even in times to come. Here we are talking about it thousands of years later.
Listen to this profound reason Hezekiah was asking for deliverance: “so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, LORD, are God.”
How can you and incorporate this idea into our prayers?
This is not the first time someone recognizes God as the one who solves problems with the higher motive of having the whole world know that God has done some mighty deed.
Joshua’s motive for gratitude
Joshua, for example, offers a prayer of gratitude to God for the way the children of Israel walked over dry ground where the Jordan River had been flowing a short time before.
For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God. Joshua 4:23, 24 NIV
Even though this is a prayer of gratitude after the challenge had been resolved, it’s the same idea, that “all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful.”
Daniel’s prayer that heals
There’s another example in the Old Testament of a prayer that heals and goes beyond just trying to get a problem solved or forgiveness for a person’s sins.
I love this account of Daniel when he’s repenting of his own sins, and then repents of all the sins of his people, for disobeying God’s commandments. But he doesn’t just ask God to forgive them. He prays for God to bring redemption because it’s not so much about the fact they have sinned and want to be forgiven, as it is about them being associated with God’s name. Daniel prays:
Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name. Daniel 9:17-19 NIV
Daniel is asking God to forgive and deliver them, in spite of their sins, and bring redemption to Jerusalem, because it will bring honor to His name, and for His people, who are associated with His name. Daniel knows it’s not so much about him or the Children of Israel being delivered as it is the world seeing God’s glory.
So let’s move to the New Testament.
Jesus’s motive for prayer and living
What does Jesus have to say about glorifying God as a motive for prayer?
In the Sermon on the Mount he makes it pretty clear that this is fundamental to being one of his followers.
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16 NIV
The reason you let your light shine, which certainly includes your prayers for healing and the healings themselves, is so others will see this light and the healings and glorify God.
If that’s the desired end result, to glorify God, what if we also start our prayers by glorifying God? Well, that’s exactly what the Lord’s Prayer is all about, as I already mentioned.
Prayer that heals glorifies God
If you’re praying for healing, for a solution to a problem, for the resolution of a conflict, or whatever you’re praying about, and the situation hasn’t been resolved or healed yet, it might be time to quit praying so specifically for the problem to be solved, and instead pray wholeheartedly that God will be glorified.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be healed or to have your problems solved. But let’s face it, that can be a bit of a self-focused prayer if it’s just for your own personal benefit and well being.
Again, there’s nothing wrong with wanting be healed, but a little broader motive would be to pray for healing so you wouldn’t be a burden to others who may be caring for you, or so you can contribute to the greater good in your family, your job, your community, or your church.
But the most powerful and all-encompassing motive is to pray that God will be glorified when others see the healing or the solution.
Jesus came to glorify God
Jesus made a point over and over that he wanted his disciples to know that he hadn’t come to earth to glorify himself. He came to do God’s will. He came to speak God’s words. He came to glorify God and not himself.
And he referred to God over and over as the One who sent him. His deep desire was that people would see this.
Once, when Jesus was praying and asking God for various things, he concluded his prayer with
… so that the world may believe that you have sent me. John 17:21 NIV
Jesus wanted us to look at everything he did and realize it was God doing it through Jesus and that all glory went to God.
Jesus prayed to glorify God
There’s this one specific time when Jesus knew his trial and crucifixion were approaching. He called out to God:
“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” John 12:27, 28 NIV
Jesus didn’t pray for the problem to go away. He didn’t pray to escape from the challenges he faced. He didn’t even pray for support to get through the ordeal of being rejected by the people and then the crucifixion.
His simple prayer was for God to be glorified.
Again, I’ll ask, How can you and I incorporate this idea into our prayers?
My prayer to glorify God
One time I was given an opportunity to talk to someone in a very high position in my church. I would have about 10-15 minutes with this man. I had no idea what I would ask him. I had all kinds of personal questions and concerns, unresolved issues, unhealed problems I could have talked about. So I prayed for guidance.
The gist of my prayer before I went to the appointment was, “What will glorify God the most?” The minute that prayer left my lips, I had my answer. When I sat down, I said something like, “Unless you have anything you want to talk about, can we just pray together for a few minutes for God to reveal more of His nature to us?”
This touched him deeply and afterward he said it had been a profound experience that he would not soon forget.
Prayer that heals
When your ultimate motive in prayer is to glorify God, you rise far above any self-centered or self-focused desires. It gives you a broader perspective of how God is working in the whole world, instead of how you want Him to work in your little world.
Jesus prayed that people would believe in him not just because they were healed. His deep heartfelt desire was that people would know God had sent him.
If Jesus prayed that way, then you and I can follow his example in our prayers.
It is a righteous prayer for us to pray for healing or solutions so the whole world may know that God can and does heal today just as in Jesus’s day.
It’s one thing to do this in your own prayers. Think of the unlimited possibilities of doing this collectively with fellow followers of Christ.
Paul sums it all up in his letter to the church in Rome.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 15:5, 6 NIV
Whatever you’re doing, whatever you’re praying for, it’s always the perfect time to pray that God will be glorified.
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James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and podcaster. He conducts Bible workshops online and in person. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by embracing the mindset of Christ in daily life. Contact him here.
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Bible References
Psalm 103:2-5 NIV
2 Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
John 14:12 NIV
12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
Matthew 6:5-7 NIV
5 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
2 Kings 19:19 NIV
19 Now, LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, LORD, are God.
2 Kings 19:20, 32-34 NIV
20 This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.
32 Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: “ ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it.
33 By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city,
34 I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’ ”
Joshua 4:23, 24 NIV
23 For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over.
24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.
Daniel 9:17-19 NIV
17 Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary.
18 Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.
19 Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.
Matthew 5:14-16 NIV
14 You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
John 17:21 NIV
21 … so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
John 12:27, 28 NIV
27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.
28 Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
Romans 15:5, 6 NIV
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had,
6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
