A couple weeks ago, my sister in law Jenn challenged me to pray for William's healing. Other people have mentioned that to me before, but I've always dismissed it. This time, though, Jenn was graciously persistent. It made me stop and really think through my reasons for not praying.
I pray for William all the time of course. I pray for him to make improvements. I pray for him to understand the gospel and come to faith. I pray for wisdom for us as we parent him and make educational decisions. But up until now, I haven't prayed for his complete healing.
As I've thought and prayed about it, I think there are a number of reasons:
-No biblical examples of people praying for or being healed of cognitive disabilities
-No present day examples I'm aware of of someone being healed of a cognitive disability
-Fear that I would be praying for something that's not God's will, that I would be asking for what is not best
-My tendency to associate people who pray for healing for developmental disabilities with people who haven't accepted them and are still fighting God in their heart
-Fear that in asking for healing, I'll start imagining what it would be like if he was healed and bring up my own desires and then be freshly saddened by our situation if God says no.
But as I've prayed about it and studied passages like James 5, I've come to the conclusion that God wants us to ask. If it's not His will, He'll say no. He knows my heart to desire His will and He won't give me second best. It's good for me to regularly say, "If You are willing, You can heal him," and to actively leave it in His hands.
And so this past Sunday when they had a time for prayer for healing at church, I raised William's hand. As people prayed, I was struck with how it is good to ask others to pray too. It strengthens our faith and reminds us of God's sovereign rule over all things. It is an act of worship.
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