I have question about Luke 7:1-10:
The centurion had great faith in Jesus, and believed that if Jesus would just “Say the word,” his servant (who was sick and ready to die) would be healed. The servant was then cured by Jesus.
Here is my question: Suppose that I become ill with, say, “sinusitis” which causes headache and difficulty in breathing, and possibly will cause loss of vision in the long-run. The doctor’s recommendation is to have a surgery to fix it. Should I pray for Jesus to cure my illness and not to have surgery? Or, should I follow my doctor’s recommendation to have a surgery and pray for the mercy of Jesus to put me in the good care of my doctor?
Thank you for your question. This is a difficult subject, but I will try to be as definitive as possible.
First of all, when we are stricken with illness, I believe that the first thing we should do is to pray for healing, including claiming God’s promises such as in 1 John 5:14-15.
At this point, and throughout this process, we can certainly also see a doctor about our condition if we feel like God might use the doctor as an instrument in accomplishing His healing. Although I do not believe that doctors can do much in the way of true healing, they can often help our bodies fight the sickness and ease our suffering–in short term situations such as with colds and the flu; and, sometimes in more serious long-term circumstances. However, we know that doctors are sometimes wrong, and they can sometimes be more of a hindrance than a help, despite any good intentions that they may have. So, since we know our own bodies better than the doctors do, we need to accept the responsibility for making the best decisions about our health (using the common sense and wisdom that God gives us).
If God chooses not to heal us, we should ask others (such as our church leaders) to join us in prayer for our healing, according to James 5:13-15 and Matthew 18-18-20.
If God still chooses not to heal us, we need to review 1 John 5:14 again, and pray specifically about the part that says, “If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us…” We need to think through our situation and ask ourselves whether or not we believe that it is God’s will for us to be healed. This is because there may be something else that God has in mind for us, such as a blessing even greater than being healed; and, perhaps this greater thing can only come about by way of our illness. If we really believe that the illness is God’s will for us (according to Romans 8:28), then we can be satisfied and cease praying for healing. However, if we are not satisfied that this illness is God’s will for us, then we need to examine ourselves to see if there might be some sin in our lives that is inhibiting our healing (James 5:15), or if we perhaps have sin in our lives that we have not confessed (1 John 1:9).
I hope this helps.
Thanks,
Owen