40 - Sick and Prayer
- rcbarbas
- Jan 19, 2024
- 20 min read
It often seems bizarre and may or may not work
Lazarus and the rich man, Luke 16:19-31. Lazarus was poor and covered with sores, he was laid at the gate of a rich man’s house. Both died and Lazarus was taken to Abraham’s bosom/paradise while the rich man was sent to Hades/Hell. (It’s likely that Lazarus died of illness because of the mention of his state of health, while the rich man probably just died of old age – maybe he died of cancer or diabetes, but his health isn’t mentioned.)
This story is about a two men who died and where they went after they died; the difference between their destinies and what they experienced after death. It is not recorded how/when they died, or even when they lived. We don’t know if there was prayer for them before they died. We just know they knew each other, they died and Lazarus went to paradise while the rich man went to everlasting torment. Neither of them were raised from the dead. Jesus didn't tell us enough about why they died for us to extrapolate if prayers were answered for them or not. We probably have to assume that their deaths were timely for their lives and considered a regular event in the process of life.
In 2 Samuel 12 we find the story of King David’s punishment for committing adultery with Bathsheba and having Uriah, her husband, killed. “The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. 4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.” 5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” 7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ 11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’” 13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.” 15 After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them. 18 On the seventh day the child died.”
That baby had done nothing wrong; God removed him because of the sin of his Dad. As a matter of fact, David said the rich man (this is not the same rich man as mentioned in the previous story with Lazarus.) should pay fourfold, and four of David’s sons died young. That seems absolutely harsh and unreasonable to us, that David’s sons died for something that King David had done, but we have to keep in mind that God is infinite in all His capacities and ways. His focus for us is everlasting, not temporal. He uses temporal events to guide us toward our everlasting positions. God already had the sons’ everlasting positions planned and their deaths were not their punishment. The punishment was spiritual, emotional and mental, for King David; his kids were taken from him because of what he had done. No amount of prayer resolved King David’s punishment.
However, in verse 13, David said “I have sinned against the LORD” confessing his sin, and Nathan told him that God had taken away his sin and that David would not die for what he did (even though that’s what David said should happen to the rich man for stealing the sheep). God did, however, allow that what David said about fourfold punishment would be carried out – David killed one person from Uriah’s family (Uriah himself) so David lost four sons from his family.
As a result of this mess he made, King David penned one of the most incredible prayers in the bible in Psalm 51. It would seem to us that his sons were punished for something they didn't do, but we have to remember that we aren't promised any specific days of life, so they weren't punished by dying. Also, keep in mind that King David's and Bathsheba's baby is a "type" for Jesus - one who has not sinned dying because of someone who has sinned.
These are not the only two stories of death, just the two I chose for this. In the long run, we may see it as unfair to David's sons, but from God's perspective He is true and right in every situation, so we need to understand that we have the astigmatism when looking at this from a wrong perspective.
Sometimes, people live and die because we all live and die and it was just their turn, not a specific cause by God. Sometimes it is a specific cause by God, and that may be because of them or someone else.
Job is my favorite for this topic. In Job chapter 1, God allowed Satan to beat, and kill, up to everything Job had; and Job still praised God. In chapter 2, God allowed Satan to attack Job personally and physically, but to not kill him; Job still praised God. At the end of chapter 2, the text reads “7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. 9 His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish [a] woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” 11 When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.” Job had three friends come to visit him in chapters 3-37. [a] above, “foolish” intends morally deficient, not specifically ignorant/dumb.
I would contend that having painful sores, from head to feet, would be classified as an illness; sores so intense that he was scraping the scabs and/or scratching himself with broken pottery; sores so intense that they changed his appearance so that his friends didn’t recognize him from a distance. Chapters 3-37 are filled with discussion between Job and his friends wherein his friends were saying “God put this on you because you did something wrong” and Job saying “Nope, I didn’t do anything wrong”, “yes you did”, no I didn’t”, “yes you did”, “no I didn’t” ... Then in Job 38 God spoke directly with Job, and for the next three chapters kept asking Job about his qualifications to question or counsel his creator. In chapter 42, Job decided it was time to shut up and apologize to God for questioning why he had gone through that mess. God healed him and made him twice as rich as before the events began.
God is not recorded as having said “Hey Job, here’s why I let you get sick and suffer”, but as we read the book, we can see that the entire disaster set upon Job was the result of a discussion between God and Satan, wherein Satan accused Job of being good because he was blessed by God and not really a righteous guy; he just had everything and had no reason to complain. The entire series of events had very little to do with Job, except that he was the target; the topic was between God and Satan, not Job. Job just happened to be the recipient of the events due to their discourse. Job was healed when God was finished with the action, not necessarily because of the prayers he and his friends had offered. The only mention God makes of responding to prayers in the book of Job is in chapter 42 when He said “7 After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.””.
This particular illness was allowed by God to bless God, and the individual was healed because God’s point had been made.
Luke 17:11–19 – ten men with leprosy asked Jesus to heal them, He told them to go to THE priests and show themselves, and as they did what they were told they were cleansed. Only one turned back to say thanks. We don’t know the reason for their illness, but we know the cure was to show them, and others, the value of faith. The men did as they were told, which was an indication of their faith, they believed what Jesus told them. It also happens to show that most people are knuckleheads and don’t have the decency to say thank you when someone helps them, but that’s another point.
Going to THE priests was a directive that was a bit different than to see some priests. THE priests were the ones who were offering sacrifices inside the temple. In the colloquial verbiage of the day they had been directed to go the temple and make an offering for their healing. They were healed on the way, so surely when they got to the temple they were happy to make an offering.
Matthew chapter eight tells of a man with leprosy who asked Jesus to heal him. “2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”” Again, faith was the key – the man said to Jesus “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”, indicating that he believed Jesus could heal him if He chose to. And again, Jesus said go show yourself to the priest; this time He iterated to make an offering.
In John 9, we read of the man who was blind from birth, Jesus spat on the ground, made some mud and put it on the man's eyes and had the man was his eyes in a pool and he was healed. The disciples had previously asked why the man was blind; was it because he was a sinner or because his parents had sinned. In verses 3, 4 "3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.". So we can understand that not every illness or death is for a similar reason.
David's sons were taken from David as a punishment for David, not necessarily for punishing them, especially not the baby. The baby's death was not just a punishment for David and Bathsheba, but also a display of what Jesus would be accomplishing by the innocent paying for the sins of the guilty. Sometimes, like the case of Job and the blind man, it is for God to make Himself known to us. In Job's case, it was to show Job who is in complete rule over everything - even Satan had to get permission to mess with anyone. In the blind man's case, it was to show that God can do whatever He wants, whenever He wants to do it. He healed a blind man by making mud; the stuff Adam was made from originally, and putting it on the man's eyes. Sort of like using the original building material to repair what had not worked correctly from the beginning - but previously determined, not an accident.
We could go on and look at more folks who were sick and died or got healed, but this is probably enough.
In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul briefly discusses his “thorn in the flesh”. There have been myriad arguments/discussions about what that “thorn” was. I’ve heard arguments that it was his poor eyesight (in Galatians 6:11 he wrote that his penmanship was composed of large letters, apparently due to poor eyesight). I’ve heard people say that we have no idea what his thorn was. I've heard a gay man say that Paul probably had a gay tendency and this was the cause of his stress. I’ve heard that it was disturbing memories of past behaviors persecuting Christians, etc. There are myriad suppositions about what his thorn was; and like everyone else, I have my idea; but unlike most others, I have a specific reason for my supposition being a specific event, not something unidentifiable. I got this from my dad when we discussed it. I'd be willing to bet a leg that he was correct.
Let’s take a quick look at what was written. 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 “7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” The Greek word translated into English as “thorn” is Strong’s concordance ref G4647: σκόλοψ, skolops, which means "a pointed piece of wood, a stake, a pale, a sharp stake, a splinter". Something that physically causes pain.
Paul had something that physically caused him pain. The next fragment of that sentence should clear up what the thorn was – “, a messenger of Satan to buffet me”. The Greek word translated as “buffet” is Strong’s concordance reference G2852: κολαφίζω, kolaphizo, which means, "to strike with the fist, give one a blow with a fist, to maltreat, treat with violence and contumely" (contumely means contempt). So “a thorn.. was given... a messenger of Satan to buffet/beat me”. Paul had a demon allowed to physically beat him, to prevent him from having a big ego. Keep in mind that Paul was having tremendous success amongst people for God; it would have been pretty easy to become pompous and start telling people about his success. In 2 Corinthians 12:8, 9, Paul wrote “8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” ...”
Paul prayed and asked God to remove the beatings from him; who wouldn’t? But God answered and said, “Nope, this is for your own good. This will keep your mind on who’s in charge of everything, including your success. The only strength you have is me, everything you have is weakness. My strength is shown when you realize how weak you are on your own.”
Even Paul, who God used to write half the New Testament, wasn’t immune from pain and aggravation. Even his prayers didn’t eliminate the problem; he just got an answer that relief, at that time, was not in God’s plan. God’s plan for that event was to be a reminder to Paul about his place in existence.
In Luke 22 we read about Jesus’ prayers in the garden of Gethsemane. I’ve covered this specifically in another bible study, but I’ll review an important part of that prayer. “41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” 43Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
What was Jesus talking about: “take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” ... “His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground”? Many people believe that Jesus paid for our sins while He was on the cross and that settled it; the penalty was settled before He died. They say it was all completed when He said “It is finished” in John 19:30. I would contend that this is an intellectually dishonest reading of the text. Many believe He went to Hell during the three days of His death.
(Yes, I understand that Jesus told one of the thieves on the cross next to Him that he would be with Jesus in paradise that day, but there is nothing in language or location that prevents someone from being in two, or three places in a single day. I have been in Atlanta and Houston on the same day, and I ahve been in Atlanta Georgia, Montgomery Alabama, Mobile Alabama, Biloxi Mississippi, and Houston Texas on the same day. Jesus could be on the cross, in Paradise and in the torment side of Hades on the same day.)
I opt for the second, and I’ve previously written why, but one of the reasons is surely because of this prayer. He knew He was going to be on the torment side of Hades for three days and was begging God, the Father, to find another way to pay the debt we owe for sin, but He said that no matter how it played out, please have the Father’s will be satisfied. If it went such that Jesus had to go to Hades (as decided for in God’s plan of redemption), He was terrified of the oncoming agony and was sweating so hard that the blood was falling off Him like drops of water/sweat.
Was His prayer for relief answered? If you count inaction as a “no” answer, then it was answered. Jesus’ punishment for sin was allowed to continue and fulfill prophesy. His prayer was answered – that the Father’s will be done, but His prayer for finding another way to resolve salvation was dismissed.
Adam and Eve were perfectly created, in the image of God. They were put in the garden of God, Eden (speaking of Satan in Ezekiel 28:13 “You were in Eden, the garden of God”). Nothing bad happened with humans until Adam sinned, then we were complicated with all sorts of misgivings. Death, hard work, painful childbirth and sickness were among those. Amongst all the nasty things, we also get blessings from God. As creator of life, infinity and everything that exists in the heavens and earth (reference Exodus 20:11) He expects, and deserves, thanks from us for the good things we experience.
In Exodus 25:2, God even told Moses to receive the offerings people bring for Him; He said “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give”.
There are many places in the bible that God mentions gifts of thanks/offerings to Him. 2 Corinthians 9:6, 7 “6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Proverbs 3:9, 10 “9 Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” No matter what happens in our lives, we are to thank God. Philippians 4:6, 7 "6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
The 10 men with leprosy were directed, by Jesus, to go show/present themselves to the priest, not just some priests, but THE priests. The particular priests weren’t the pompous dudes standing around; they were the priests offering sacrifices in the temple. At that time, when a person was directed to present themselves to the priest it was part of the culture that it meant to submit themselves and present an offering.
The bible doesn’t tell us why these ten men, the singular man, or Lazarus were sick, why they died or why they were chosen to be healed, it just tells us that they were sick. Some die, some are healed. We have no indication as to who or why, just that it happens. As believers, we have to understand that God is infinite in every capacity of His being. He has all the hairs numbered on billions of people’s heads (Matthew 10:30), He has named the stars (Psalm 147:4), He has no beginning and no end (Psalm 90:2, everlasting past to everlasting future). All of His attributes are infinite - love, grace, mercy, justice, will, wrath, etc. We all die, some in accidents, some due to illness, some due to old age; in Deuteronomy 34:7, the bible says “Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.”, he’s the only one I know of who didn’t die from the list of reasons I just typed – apparently Moses died because God was done with him on earth and decided it was time for him to move on to heaven. He was still full of life and strength, but died without accident or illness.
In His infinitude, God has not discussed a purpose telling us why and when He has everyone’s lives on earth come to a conclusion. Some righteous people die young (Dr. Nabeel Qureshi for example) some nasty old folks die at an old age (Hugh Hefner for example). Some “good” people suffer, some “evil” people don’t - at least not that we see here on earth. We don’t have any idea of the whys and whats. Our only option is to pray. But when we pray, we need to be sure that we are in a position to have our prayers listened to.
God doesn’t listen to everyone’s prayers. If you pray to Allah, why would the real God listen to you? You aren’t praying to Him, What about praying to Vishnu or Zeus? Nope. You need to be a Christian to have prayers answered by the only God, or you need to be confessing to Him that you believe and accept His payment for your sins and ask for salvation; He listens to that every time. If I’m praying to a made-up god, why would the true God answer my prayers? He might allow circumstances to play out as coincidentally answering my prayer, but there’s a difference between answered prayer and coincidence.
How many people pray to win the lottery? How many people win it?
I have a friend who often tells me how God is blessing him. I ask if he’s still doing the one thing that I know he does that’s wrong (he discusses it regularly and we’ve detailed why it’s wrong); I’m not picking on him, just discussing the topic when he brings it up. But when he says God is blessing him, I remind him of what he’s doing and the negative impact it is having on specific people around him and tell him that it’s not God’s blessings he’s seeing; he’s being allowed financial success, but not true success in life. True success is having a Godly impact on others and though he talks about God, and is a Christian, he’s not being blessed by God while continuing what he’s doing.
Whatever we experience can seem very close to a blessing, but it might not be. I’ve said it many times and will repeat it – the important stuff is practically invisible, while much of the visible stuff is unimportant. We need to be very picky about what we assign “blessing” status. How much money did Hugh Hefner have when he died? Some estimate have his value at death listed as $50 million. I would guess that he might have felt blessed, but I would also reckon that, in hindsight, he doesn’t believe that was an accurate assessment.
It really looks like the deck is stacked against our sensible beliefs, but faith is the key. God doesn’t put much value in us doing things because we see the end result. He honors us doing things because we believe Him; AND our faith has to be in the proper, only God.
If you are a Christian, you should realize the every event is fully known to God – the hairs on our heads are numbered, trillions (at least) of stars are named and their paths are prescribed and known (by God); nothing goes unnoticed or unknown. The reasons may not be clear to us, we may not like it, we may be healed, we may not be, but God has a reason for allowing or assigning everything. If you, or anyone, is sick or injured, etc., God has it in control.
There’s no battle between God and Satan; Satan is a creature of God. It will all end in a puff of breath, as stated in Revelation 20:9 “And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.”. Sneeze, achoo, fire, Satan is defeated and gone. Any illness or injury we have will be gone. God doesn’t necessarily play along our timeline; time is not a factor to God – He created time for us in Genesis 1:14. God plays for eternity and has composed the universe to serve our needs. Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose”. Yep, we pray for healing and success because that’s the way we want our lives to go, healthy and successful. God uses events to place us where we should be, to make our minds think and focus as we should, to develop us for everlasting life with Him.
Our prayers should most often be “Lord, please heal me, I hurt, but more importantly, have your way with my health and what I do”. Don’t forget the thanksgiving part of prayer. Philippians 4:6, 7 “6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”. Pray with thanksgiving, thanking God before prayers are answered. Faith is about being convinced of things before they occur. Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”; “substance here means realization – faith is the realization of things hoped for and confidence in things not seen.
I don’t believe in “name it, claim it” prayers but our prayers must be based on our belief that God can/will answer them. (Back in the 1980s, I was in a prayer meeting with friends. One of the ladies prayed, and claimed, that God would save all of the people to the north of us, all of the people to the south of us, all of the people to the west of us and all of the people to the east of us. She claimed salvation for everyone on the planet in one prayer, and fully expected God to save everyone – even though the very bible from which she was praying says otherwise.) Recall that Job, and his friends, were off base on their thoughts all the way through the 35 chapters of their conversation. His buddies said “you did something wrong”; Job basically said “No I didn’t, if given court with the Almighty I can prove my case”. All along, the entire event was about a discussion between God and Satan. Satan threw an accusation against Job and God said prove it; Satan was wrong. God’s ways are so far above ours that we can’t conceive of His purposes; we can only guess. But, like Job, we have to be in honor of whatever occurs. In Job 2:9, whenever his wife found out about his illness, she said “curse God and die”. He told her she was morally bankrupt (Job 2:10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?”); and that we should accept the good, and adversity as well.
Whatever God’s plan, we are to accept it and see how it plays out. Maybe He wants us to change our ways, maybe He wants others to see how we handle adversity, maybe the reason is beyond our comprehension; whatever the reason, we are to handle adversity with integrity.
We have this bizarre quirk in humanity. We act like God doesn’t exist, even though we all know that He does. (Romans 1:19, 20 “19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”) then when things go bad, we pray to Him because that’s our only option. We don’t know what else to do, so we ask for help with things we can’t fix.
Keep in mind that we are the creatures of the almighty, infinite and eternal God; He doesn’t owe us any explanation for what happens, nor does He owe us good health or financial success. We owe Him praise, honor, love and obedience. We ask for health and success; we don’t deserve it.
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