Thy will be done.
—Matthew 6:10
If the Lord will.
—James 4:15
In days of sickness, when doctors fail, recourse is taken to such Scriptures as, “Thy will be done” and “If the Lord will.” They may become a stumbling block in the way of divine healing. How can I know, it is asked, whether or not it is God’s will that I remain ill?
It is, indeed, impossible to pray with faith when we are not sure that we are asking according to the will of God. “I can,” one may say, “pray fervently in asking God to cure me if it is possible.” As long as one prays thus, one is praying with submission, but it is not the prayer of faith. That is possible only when we are certain that we are asking according to the will of God. The question then is how we can know what the will of God is.
To know His divine will, we must be guided by the Word of God. It is His Word that promises us healing. The promise of James 5 is so absolute that it is impossible to deny it. This promise only confirms other passages, equally strong, that tell us that Jesus Christ has obtained for us the healing of our diseases, because He has borne our sicknesses. According to this promise, we have the right to healing, because it is a part of the salvation that we have in Christ. The Scriptures tell us that sickness is, in God’s hands, the means of chastening His children for their sins, but that this discipline ceases to be exercised as soon as His suffering child acknowledges and turns from the sin.
Sick Christian, if you really seek to know what the will of God is in this, do not let yourself be influenced by the opinions of others, nor by your own prejudices, but listen to and study the Word of God. Examine whether it does indeed promise you that divine healing is a part of the redemption of Jesus, and that God wills that every believer should have the right to claim it. That the prayer of every child of God for healing will be heard, and whether health restored by the power of the Holy Spirit manifests the glory of God in the eyes of the world. Ask this of the Word; it will answer you. According to the will of God, sickness is a discipline occasioned by sin (or shortcoming), and healing, granted to the prayer of faith, bears witness to His grace that pardons, that sanctifies, and that takes away sin.