Paul or the Widow .. acceptance or keep asking .. Answer: Yes

 Growing up in the church you hear a lot about prayer and healing. 

In the church tradition that I grew up in, conservative southern baptist,  we were encouraged to pray for healing when faced with illness or injury. And there was a practice of laying on hands of those who were sick and praying for them, usually by the pastor or elders of the church. The elders would pray for those sick for healing. As a teen we attended an Assemblies of God church for about a year, and their traditions involved laying on of hand, anointing with oil, and often speaking in tongues as they prayed for the healing of someone who was sick. 

In the church I attend now, Christian and Missionary Alliance, there is the same basic teaching and practice. Calling on the elders to pray, anointing with oil and the laying on of hands. One or our former pastors began to invite the wives of the elders to join in the laying on of hands, while the congregation joined in praying. And now, the elders, their wives and anyone who would like is invited to join in the prayers for healing of those who have come forward and asked for prayer, since all who believe in Jesus are part of a royal priesthood. In this tradition they also pray for the healing of the spiritual health of the sick one as well. 

Each of these are beautiful practices that invoke the power of God to bring healing and wholeness to anyone who is sick or wounded, either physically, spiritually, emotionally or all these. The very act shows that the person asking and those praying believe in the supernatural ability of God to heal. It is an act of faith, hope and sometimes desperation as the one who is ill, and those who care about them, seeks out some type of relief from their situation. 

I was taught that Jesus always answers our prayers. He either says "Yes", "No" or "Wait". The hard part in my humanness is deciphering between these three, for unless it is an immediate instant healing, sometimes we have trouble discerning what His answer is. How do you tell the difference between a "No" and a "Wait". And what if it is a "yes" but the answer does not happen in an instant, or requires the skills of mortals like doctors or medicine? 

When thinking of the scripture, there are two examples of prayer that I often ponder. There is the story of Paul, a real life person, who suffered from a chronic condition and prayed, one translation says he "begged", to be healed. Three times he asked, and every time the response from God was basically "no". He told Paul that His grace was sufficient for him and that His power works best in weakness. This caused to Paul to rejoice in his condition. (1 Corinthians 12: 8-10) 

The other story is actually a parable, told by Jesus to his disciples, It describes a widow who was demanding justice in a dispute to a Judge. This Judge is described as one who "feared neither God nor man". He ignored her, but she kept coming back, until she finally wore him down and he settled the matter. Jesus uses this to remind his followers God, unlike the judge, is a just God and they can trust he will render justice to his faithful in due time. (Luke 18: 1-8)

When dealing with a chronic condition, I often wonder who I am, am I Paul who should be content in the fact the God is good and that he has deemed my condition a necessary weakness to show His power in my life? Or am It the widow, who needs to keep on asking and asking until God grants me my request. To not give up asking. 

As I ponder this thoughts anew I realize that my  question is not the right one, it is not an either or situation. Regardless of the answer, I need to accept where I am, and my weaknesses and allow God to use me however he sees fit, to show the people around me (and me) that He often (dare I say always) uses broken and weak vessels to do his bidding, to share his love, to show his power and spread his word. In the same breath, I should never stop seeking Gods face, I should long for his presence, guidance, peace, and yes healing as much as that widow desired justice from an ungodly and unjust earthly judge. For my God is big, his love is vast, his power limitless and his judgment is always right.