GOD’S WILL WHEN PRAYER FAILS

God’s will to heal even when prayer fails

Home > God’s will when prayer fails (for healing)
“We prayed, fasted, and sought God to heal, but nothing happened, so how could it have been God’s will for that person to be healed?”

This is such a largely debated subject within the body of Christ, and of course I have a teaching on it. This month, I want to bring something to the table which should get us all thinking about this whole subject of healing. I have news for today’s church: Just because you pray for something, and nothing happens, does not mean it is God’s will for nothing to happen.

There are so many times, things under the surface that are going on which are never addressed. The Bible tells us that God’s people (not the world, but the Children of God) are destroyed (Satan is stealing, killing, and destroying them – see John 10:10) by lack of knowledge (see Hosea 4:6). Somehow, the church today thinks that if we just launch a few prayers to heaven, that the will of God will be done… completely ignoring the whole idea of how a lack of knowledge can destroy the children of the kingdom!

The root to the disease Lupus is almost always rooted in issues of self-hate. You can pray all you want for somebody to be healed, and I’m not saying that God cannot step in and do a divine miracle, but most of the time He is waiting for us to address the roots of our bondages. Henry Wright, a highly respected leader in healing and deliverance ministry, said that when you address the self hate, certain diseases such as lupus just start to disappear.

Let me ask you this: if your car didn’t start on Sunday morning (a very important prayer service that you didn’t want to miss for the world), and you prayed and asked God to transport you in the Spirit to church on Sunday morning, but He didn’t do it, would you dare say that it wasn’t God’s will for you to be in church that morning? Many of us might say that the devil hindered us, as Paul was hindered by Satan (see 1 Thessalonians 2:18). Why don’t we apply this principal to healing prayers that failed? Why is it so quickly God’s will for somebody to be sick, just because a prayer for healing isn’t answered? What if you prayed and prayed for a loved one to get saved, and they died cursing God and went to hell? Would we dare say that it was God’s will for that person to go to hell, just because our prayers were not answered? Do you see how immature it is to assume that just because a prayer isn’t answered, means that it was not God’s will to see that prayer answered? Let’s look at the verse again where we are told to ask for wisdom, but to ask in faith (see James 1:5-7)… clearly it is God’s desire to give us wisdom, but according to this passage, if we aren’t fulfilling the requirement of this passage, then we may not receive a thing from God. Again, that doesn’t mean it was not God’s will to let our prayer go unanswered.

To even take this a step further, there is only one place in the entire NT which speaks of praying for the sick… all the times the disciples and Jesus ministered healing, it was done by exercising their authority over the sickness or disease, which further proves the point that we have been given authority over sickness. We don’t need to beg God for something that He’s put us in charge of and told us to go out and “heal the sick”.

Many times, what happens is that Christians are praying for a healing, while leaving the root of the problem alone, and then when God doesn’t do a miracle, we begin to spread the word that it must not have been God’s will for them to be healed. Even in the case where the man was born blind, God got the glory from the man’s HEALING… not the man’s infirmity! Nowhere in the entire NT am I aware of, did God ever get an ounce of glory from somebody remaining in their sickness or disease!

One good point that the Holy Spirit had shown me was concerning the will of God here on earth, and that it is the same as His will in heaven. You can read my teaching on The Will of God on Earth for a better understanding of this revelation. Basically, what we see happening in heaven, is what God wants to see here on earth (remember “Thy will be done here on earth as it is in heaven”?). Do we see things missing, broken, sickened, and lacking up in heaven? Not at all! Then what makes us think that these things are God’s will here on earth then? Or are we going to argue that those are God’s will up in heaven? The whole point of Jesus coming here to earth and doing all those miracles, healings, deliverances, etc., was to demonstrate and bring the Father’s will down here to earth. This is why Jesus equipped the saints to heal the sick and cast out demons (see Mark 16:17-18), so that His will could manifest here on earth, and we could carry on the ministry that Jesus started and demonstrated to us during His time here on earth.

Let’s take a moment and look at true Biblical faith faith. I have a more detailed teaching on Biblical faith and healing, but I want to address briefly here as well. You cannot have faith for something that has not been promised to you. If I never promised to pay your student loan off, you have no grounds to believe that I will. It would be impossible for you to have faith that I’m going to do something that I never said I would do. The same is true with God, as faith comes by hearing God’s Word (which include His promises!). As Pastor James Brandt says, “You can only have faith for something that is promised to you in the Word.” The Bible refers to the prayer for healing as a prayer of faith, which means it is a prayer of knowing (see James 5:15). Furthermore, in that passage, we are told that the prayer of faith WILL save the sick. This prayer of faith is a very important subject all by itself, as it is not just a prayer of concentration (“if it be thy will”. This makes it virtually impossible to have uncontaminated faith in God for a healing, if we are on the fence as to whether or not it is God’s will to heal us. The Bible tells us that he who asks of faith needs to ask believing, or else he cannot expect anything from God (see James 1:6-7). Having faith in somebody for something means that you are trusting them to come through on a promise made. You cannot have a whole lot of faith that I’m going to pay your car payment this month if I never promised to do such a thing, can you? The same principal is true when it comes to receiving the promises of God.

I’m going to be honest with you, until I see the church demonstraiting the success rate that Jesus’ ministry and that of the early church had when it came to healing ministry, I am not satisfied with their beliefs and approaches to healing ministry. We can leave all of this, “Is it God’s will?” business on the back burner, and get busy figuring out what we are missing, what knowledge we are lacking which is destroying our friends and loved ones. God’s Word tells us that it was Satan who came to kill, but Jesus came to give life. Cancer (which is almost always demonically rooted) is a means of killing God’s saints. The man born blind never died in that state, or it would have never given God glory. All too often people take their sicknesses and diseases to the grave, which brings God no glory. The ONLY case where a death due to sickness gave God glory, was the story of Lazareth, who brought God much glory ONLY because he was later raised from the dead. What gave God glory in the NT concerning those who were sick? It was when they were healed; scores of healings took place and brought God much glory among the people.

And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.

Matthew 4:24

When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick.

Matthew 8:16

But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all.

Matthew 12:15

And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; And they that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.

Luke 6:17-19

Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.

Acts 5:15-16

Once we reach the level of success that is demonstrated to us in the NT, then let’s sit down and discuss this whole idea of God’s desire to see His children sick and miserable (as they are in heaven?).