Unwittingly or not, we in the Church have fostered the
perception that there exists a hierarchy of prayer requests. Ask for salvation
of someone’s soul or boldness in sharing the Gospel, and the request is treated
as of utmost worthiness. Ask for physical healing for yourself or a loved one,
and the request is noted but often with an aside about spiritual encouragement
or, if need be, spiritual healing being added to the request. Ask for safety in
traveling, and the request is acknowledged almost in passing.
Granted, in some ways these assigned values make sense, for
Scripture does teach that eternal things are of the most importance (see
Matthew 6:19-21; Matthew 16:26). We can have perfect health on this earth, yet
our eternal health is based not on that but on the status of our soul: dead or
reborn. Conversely, a person’s physical death, say for instance in a car
accident, is not what determines the eternal destination of his or her soul. It’s
what we do with Jesus that determines that.
However, the concerning effect of perpetuating such a value hierarchy
is manifold. First, the mindset, taken to the extreme, implies that our
physical bodies and circumstances don’t matter. But we know, again from
Scripture, that this is not true. Multiple times God speaks of caring for the
poor and needy (e.g. Deut. 15:11; Acts 2:45). Furthermore, God designed and
created our physical bodies, so it stands to reason that He cares about
them.
Sometimes, though, it seems we fail to acknowledge our need.
Sure, when it’s cancer or another serious disease, we recognize our inability
to bring about healing ourselves. But when it’s a cold or a headache, or some
other “minor” thing, we muscle through in our own strength, not thinking to ask
our Maker for assistance and healing. Similarly, when we’re pulled over on the
side of the hail-assaulted interstate because a tornado is heading straight for
us (yes, that has really happened to my family and me), we plead for God’s
protection. But when we’re embarking on our routine drive to work, we don’t
sense a need for protection.
Another, related, unfortunate effect of devaluing certain
prayer requests is the implication that God’s power only extends to the
spiritual realm. We know that it is His power that awakens our souls and gives
us new hearts in repenting and believing in Jesus’ sacrificial death on the
cross, but we reject the doctrine of Deism, which posits that God merely
created the world then lifted His hand as He stepped back from any level of
involvement in it. The truth is, God is Jehovah Rapha, i.e. the Lord our Healer
(Exodus 15:26), and He has the power to heal physical ailments and diseases
from big to small.
His power is not limited to the inner workings of the body, though.
He is sovereign over external forces as well. The Psalmists speak of God’s
protection on numerous occasions (Ps. 5:11, Ps. 68:5, Ps. 91:14, etc.), and
there are many accounts of God’s delivering His people from physical danger,
even specifically when it comes to travel. In Ezra, we see one example.
Ezra, a priest and prophet living in Persia during the exile
(see the previous post for more context on the captor empires), had been
called to lead a large contingent of exiles back to Jerusalem. The western
journey was a long, treacherous one, and Ezra and his people had no military
escort to defend them (see Ezra 8:22). But they had God. “And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the
seventh year of the king. For on the first day of the first month he began to
go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to
Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God
was on him” (Ezra 7:8-9, ESV, emphasis added).
Not only did God protect the returnees, but they knew that He
was able to even before He did, and they asked Him to shield them as they
traveled. Ezra recorded, “Then I
proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves
before God, to seek from him a safe journey
for ourselves, our children, and all our goods” (Ezra 8:21, ESV, emphasis
added). To them, asking for safe travel wasn’t a minor, insignificant thing.
They knew that they could face very real danger from enemies and the elements,
and they were convinced that God could protect them from both. In fact, they
took the potential threats so seriously that they didn’t just pray, they
fasted. They obviously thought the request was worth asking.
Let us be the same. Let’s not think God is too small or too
unconcerned with healing our physical bodies or protecting us while we are on
the road or in the air. Let’s also not think ourselves invincible to illness or
accidents. Instead, let us cast all our cares on Him, knowing that
He does care for us and that He will answer “according
to the counsel of His will” (1 Peter 5:7; Ephesians 1:11, ESV). That means,
of course, that His answer might be “No.”
Sometimes, no matter how fervently or frequently we pray for
healing or protection, God still allows physical death to come or traumatic
accidents to occur. Even then, we see that He is sovereign, that life and death
are held in his hands, and we can trust that His purpose will still prevail. As
the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, how He answers is His prerogative,
but far be it from us to neglect to ask.
Photo credit: Casey Cruver. Used with permission.
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