Why God Heals in Answer to Prayer - Part 1
Philippians 2:25-30
Sermon by: Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - Aug. 28, 2005
*Today we will start looking at why God (sometimes) heals in answer to prayer, so let’s read Phil 2:25-30...
25. Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need;
26. since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick.
27. For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
28. Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful.
29. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem;
30. because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.
===================================
*Why does God heal in answer to prayer? I am really excited about this topic, but the more I started looking at it, the more I realized there is no way we could cover this in one week. It would be like trying to eat a whole watermelon in one sitting. You’ll have to come back next week for the rest of the story.
1. But today first of all, we must see some essential truths about answered prayer -- Essential truths about answered prayer for healing. There are some ground rules that we need to recognize.
Ground Rule 1:
-The first ground rule is simply this: God doesn’t always heal in answer to our prayers. If he did, then these pews would be full of people who are worshipping in heaven today, and Glenwood hospital would be empty every day by suppertime. God doesn’t always heal us in this world. As Rick Warren says, “This is not Heaven.”
Ground Rule 2:
-The second ground rule is this: God’s healing is a mystery. Part of the mystery comes from the fact that the same God who heals us, also sometimes makes people sick. We can see this many times in the Old Testament. Think about the first baby that David and Bathsheba had. Dad and Mom had sinned -- but it was the innocent baby who got sick and died. Look for a moment at 2 Samuel 12:13-15...
13. Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord.’’ And Nathan said to David, "The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.
14. "However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.’’
15. Then Nathan departed to his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became very ill.
*We read these words and are astounded by the severity God sometimes shows. But we must understand that sometimes God does send sickness to people. We can see this in the New Testament too. One example is the Scripture we most often use for the Lord’s Supper. It’s 1 Corinthians 11:28-32, where Paul said:
28. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup.
29. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
30. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.
31. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
32. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
*Who does the chastening in vs. 32? Who sends the sickness? It’s the Lord. Sometimes the Lord sends sickness, but it’s a mystery to us, because the truth is, we have no idea why some people have to be sick and suffer so much more than others. I think about Janis’ nephew, Tommy. He had major heart surgery earlier this summer -- 14 hours long, and Tommy was extremely critical. The surgeons were not able to use the vein they wanted, but the vein they did use is now working well -- far better than they had hoped the first choice would work. Tommy is getting more oxygen than ever before. -- But here is an 18-year-old born with extremely complicated heart problems. His whole life has been a struggle. Why? It’s a mystery to us.
*Then I think of our son Eric. -- How he had successful surgery and complete recovery from a brain tumor as big as a tennis ball. Eric was healed while others weren’t. Why? Didn’t those parents love their children? Didn’t they pray? You can be sure most of them did, and there are no prayers more urgent than a parent praying for a sick child! Why are some healed and others not? It’s a mystery to us.
Ground Rule 3:
-Here is the third ground rule: We have to be very careful about trying to explain why someone is sick. The blind man in John 9 is a great place to see this truth. In these vs. Jesus healed a man who was born blind. Listen to the story from John 9:1-7...
1. Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.
2. And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’’
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.
5. "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’’
6. When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.
7. And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’’ (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
-“Why is this man blind, Lord? Whose fault is it?” It wasn’t because of his sins or his parents’ sins. He was born blind so the power of God could be seen in him.
*We have got to be very careful about trying to explain why someone is sick. Epaphroditus in Philippians 2 was sick not because he was bad, but because he was good. -- Not because he was sinning, but because he was serving the Lord! By the way, his name means lovely, not because Epaphroditus was lovely on the outside, but because he was lovely on the inside, and he lived a lovely life. Listen again to what Paul said about Epaphroditus in vs. 29-30:
29. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem;
30. because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.
-We must be careful trying to explain why someone is sick.
Ground Rule 4:
-The fourth ground rule is that God uses medical science to heal people. In Matthew 9:12, Jesus says that people who are sick need a physician. God uses doctors, nurses and medicine every day to help heal people. In the last ten years I have had three surgeries, and I am thankful for every one of them. I am also extremely thankful for the lithotripsy I had to break up a kidney stone. Anybody who’s a member of the kidney stone club knows what I’m talking about! Medical science helps people every day.
2. These are essential truths when we consider answered prayer for healing. -- But we also need to see the evidence for answered prayer.
*What about studies and surveys? Dr. Larry Dossey points to over 130 clinical studies which concluded that prayer benefits health. In one such study, conducted in 1988, Randolph Byrd, MD, a cardiologist at San Francisco General Hospital, designed a double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical study to evaluate prayer. Over a 10-month period, 393 patients who were admitted to the coronary care unit (CCU) were randomly assigned by a computer to either an intercessory prayer group -- those who would be prayed for -- or a control group -- those who would not be prayed for. All patients signed informed consent, but they did not know which group they were in, nor did any of the doctors or nurses. Roman Catholic and Protestant prayer groups across the country were given the names of the prayer-group patients and a general idea of their condition. They were asked to pray each day for these patients but were given no instruction on how to pray.
-The results were significant, to say the least. Those in the prayed-for group versus the control group were five times less likely to need antibiotics and three times less likely to develop fluid in their lungs. Byrd’s study summarized: "These data suggest that intercessory prayer to the Judeo-Christian God has a beneficial therapeutic effect in patients admitted to a CCU."
*Listen to these results from a survey of 1,100 doctors last year: This national survey found that 74% of doctors believe that miracles have occurred in the past and 73% believe that [they] can occur today. . . Perhaps the most surprising result of the survey is that a majority of doctors (55%) said that they have seen results in their patients that they would consider miraculous. . . (1)
*Studies and surveys give us great evidence that God heals in answer to prayer. Then there are the stories, our stories, the stories of loved ones and people we know who weren’t supposed to make it -- But they did! They weren’t supposed to get better -- But they did!
*Eddie and Rosalyn P. live in Atlanta. Eddie helped make the arrangements for our mission trip to Ukraine. His wife Rosalyn deals with chronic back pain, but a few days ago, Eddie told me about the time Rosalyn was facing neck surgery. On the night before the surgery, she felt something happen. Eddie said it was like she was bathed in light, and she knew that she didn’t need the surgery anymore. Later tests showed that those two discs had been fused.
*William M. had some stints put in Friday, and while we were waiting, his mom told me about her sister. Her heart stopped six years ago. When they revived her, the doctor told her that she had six months to live -- But she is still here six years later. And yes, she has serious health problems today, but she says that God hasn’t been ready for her yet. And we know that God answers prayer!
*WorldNetDaily recently told the story of Daniel Cave. Daniel was on his first skydiving jump in Washington State. When his parachute failed to open, he fell not 35 feet, not 350 feet, but 3,500 feet to the ground -- almost three fourths of a mile! Two weeks ago, Matt Lauer from the Today Show interviewed Daniel in his hospital room, and Daniel said that he experienced extraordinary comfort as he prayed on the way down.
Daniel told Matt about his prayer this way:
-“I said, ‘OK, well, I trust you, I believe in you, and if there’s any way, I’d love to see my family again, so help me out here.’ And I just felt – I got to say, I just felt like the biggest hug in the world and just this warm embrace. It was the most amazing thing ever. And at that point I thought, ‘either way, this is going to turn out good, so...’ -- And here I am. I don’t know how.”
*Daniel came away with only a broken leg, a broken jaw and some internal injuries. He said, “How I lived -- I can’t explain why I’m not just mush.” Then Daniel said that his first dive was also his last. (2)
*Talk about answered prayer! There are countless stories about how God answers our prayer. But the best evidence isn’t studies or stories -- The best evidence is Scripture -- the Word of God. If I never knew a single person who was helped and healed, I would still tell you to trust in the Word of God!
*I want you to know that there really was a man named Epaphroditus, and he really was near death, but God healed him. And our God still heals today in answer to prayer. I know that because His Word promises that He will. The Book of James tells us to pray for one another, “that you may be healed,” and he says that “the prayer of faith shall save the sick.”
3. There is great evidence for answered prayer, but we also need to see the effect of answered prayer. What effects should these truths have on our life?
*First of all, we should pray. May God never have to say to us, “You have not, because you ask not.” (James 4:2)
*We should pray, but we should also trust God whether He heals us or not. Christians, this world is not our home. And if sickness is the path that takes us home, then it’s not as bad as it seems. If we know Jesus as Savior and Lord, then we know that we will live in Heaven forever.
*Pastor Robert Allen gave this testimony:
-Several years ago, I was visiting one of my members who was in the hospital. I was a young man, fresh out of seminary and still wet behind the ears as a minister. I was visiting this elderly man and he was extremely ill. He wanted to talk to me, his pastor, about his funeral service and I wanted to talk about anything else -- the weather, football, politics, or anything else I could think of.
*Finally, I asked him, "Joe, doesn’t it bother you? Aren’t you frightened?"
-He smiled and said, "Robert, I know I’m not going to make it, but I’m not afraid. I have a confession to make. I’ve taken a peek at the back of the book."
-"What do you mean?" I asked.
*He said, "You didn’t know me 10 years ago when I had my first heart attack. They called it cardiac arrest. I can remember the medical team thinking I was dead. I can also remember the tremendous feeling of being surrounded by God’s love. I was revived by the doctors, but ever since that day I have been unafraid to die. I’ve been there and it doesn’t frighten me. I know that one day soon I am going to go to sleep. And I believe that when I awaken, I will, once again, be surrounded by God’s love." (3)
*We are surrounded by His love right now. That’s why He heals us. And that is why Jesus Christ died on the Cross for our sins. He loves you so much that He was willing to take that punishment for you. So put your trust in the Lord. Trust Him for your salvation. Trust Him enough to pray for healing. And keep trusting Him. -- whether He heals you or not.
1. NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 20, 2004 -- (Dossey/ Byrd adapted from online article by Lara Evans at Delicious Living)
2. Posted: August 16, 2005 - 5:00 p.m. Eastern - © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
3. christianglobe.com sermon - An Empty Tomb by Robert Allen - John 20 1 18
