October 18, 2009
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prayer for health and safety
Is it right to ask God for health and safety? (and prosperity, success, wealth, fame, fortune, etc)
How does the Bible instruct us to pray? What should be our main focus? Should it be "God, please give me a day (week, month, etc) with no problems... let it go easily and smoothly... allow everything to come together in pleasant ease... grant me health and safety.... and oh by the way let it be an eternally profitable day too." or, "God, please glorify Your name this day (week, month, etc)... Please help me to rejoice in You regardless of the circumstances... please work the circumstances out for maximum glory-to-You to everyone watching... please give me boldness to speak of You as I ought to speak, and likewise let my thoughts glorify You... whether by life (temporarily necessary) or death (far more desirable), whether by sickness or health, by accident-free travel or calamitous travel, by glory or dishonor, by the pleasant path or the crushing path"?
Lest that sound too rhetorical, here are some Bible passages to consider, and please if you're reading this feel free to add more passages that come to mind that I may have overlooked.
James 4
1What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?
2You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.
3You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.James 5
13Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.
14Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;
15and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
16Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.Colossians 4
2Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; 3praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; 4that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.
2 Corinthians 12
7Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself!
8Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.
9And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
10Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
Acts 21
10As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
11And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, "This is what the Holy Spirit says: 'In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'"
12When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem.
13Then Paul answered, "What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."
14And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, remarking, "The will of the Lord be done!"
Acts 4
23When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.
24And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, "O Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM,
25who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said,
'WHY DID THE GENTILES RAGE,
AND THE PEOPLES DEVISE FUTILE THINGS?
'THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND,
AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER
AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST.'
27"For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
28to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.
29"And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence,
30while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus."
31And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.Ephesians 6
18With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.Colossians 1
9For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
10so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously
12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.
2 Thessalonians 1
11To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power,
12so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 3
1Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you;
2and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith.
Hebrews 13
18Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things.
19And I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you the sooner.
John 12
23And Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
24"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
25"He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.
26"If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
27"Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour.
28"Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came out of heaven: "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again."
1 Timothy 2
1First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men,
2for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.
3This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
4who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Matthew 6
7"And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.
8"So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
9"Pray, then, in this way:
'Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10'Your kingdom come
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
11'Give us this day our daily bread.
12'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]'
14"For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15"But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.3 John 1
2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.
Matthew 16
21From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.
22Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You."
23But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's."
24Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
25"For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Acts 12
5So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.
6On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison.
7And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter's side and woke him up, saying, "Get up quickly " And his chains fell off his hands.
8And the angel said to him, "Gird yourself and put on your sandals." And he did so. And he said to him, "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me."
9And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.
10When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.
11When Peter came to himself, he said, "Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting."
12And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.
13When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer.
14When she recognized Peter's voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate.
15They said to her, "You are out of your mind!" But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, "It is his angel."
16But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed.
17But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, "Report these things to James and the brethren." Then he left and went to another place.
Comments (4)
I think Christ is our best source to understand prayer. In the garden when He the man child of the Father was sorely stressed with the events to soon follow as shown by His living God Spirit that His flesh did cover. Asking for the cup to pass from Him yet not the Human will but God will to be done and again telling us as teaching on prayer it is ok to ask to be delivered from evil both evil done to us and by us as He takes us out from under temptation and for us to receive our needs as with our daily bread. But in all things our will must match His will on earth as it is when we go to be with Him ( for His glory and not to give glory to our flesh by our vanity ). Understanding the motive of our heart and the condition of walk in Him is where we should start and then as the Holy Spirit to give us the words to be used and the right mind that only praying in the spirit (not the flesh) can make the proper petitions of faith that will please and glorify the Father. We should seek first the kingdom of God giving this our complete efforts in mind body and spirit and we will be blessed by His provision to help others as we in our natural care for ourselves care for self. ( love others as we love ourself)
Thank you for this good post on this good day to worship our Lord with a heart filled with Thanks to Him!
In His hope and love,
Barry
Dear Tim,
The New Testament instructs us to pray about anything that concerns us:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Phil 4:6)
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)
Your posting contains excellent verses on prayer. The mixture that you selected of different types of prayers is interesting. Several of them deal with requests concerning physical needs (James 5:13-16, 2 Cor 12:7-10, Matt 6:11, 3 John 1). Several are requests for safety and deliverance from evil (2 Thes 3:2, 1 Tim 2:2, Matt 6:13, Acts 12:5-17). Others are requests for the needs of Christian workers (Col 4:2-4, Acts 21:10-14, Acts 4:23-31, Eph 6:18-20, 2 Thes 3:1, Heb 13:18-19, Matt 16:21-25). Some give instruction on prayer (James 4:3, Matt 6:7). From this mixture of types of prayers it would seem that many different prayer topics are acceptable. No topic is singled out as particularly “spiritual”. In fact, since our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in us, whom we have received from God (1 Cor 6:19), there doesn’t seem to be anything unspiritual about praying for health, accident-free travel, etc., provided that we remember Paul’s teaching that “you are not your own; you have been bought with a price” (1 Cor 6:20), so that God retains the right to tell us what we can/cannot do with our bodies, and to take us into/deliver us out of physical suffering.
In summary the answer to your question, “Is it right to ask God for health and safety?” seems to be, “Yes, provided the request is a genuine concern or matter of anxiety, not selfish or focused merely on our own gratification (James 4:3), and not just repetitious babbling (Matt 6:7)”.
A corollary would be that not only is it acceptable for us to personally pray for health and safety, but it is also acceptable for others to pray for us if they have a genuine concern about these matters on our behalf. I certainly appreciate the prayers of so many of God’s people for my recovery from infection, and thank God for answering those prayers.
In Christ,
Dad
Dear Tim,
I think you are mistaken in thinking that God does not want to hear our requests for health, safety, or any thing else that is on our hearts. Obviously the OT is full of such prayers by men and women who loved God, but looking just in the NT, the following verses come to mind ...
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are ... yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Heb. 4:14-16)
Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Gal. 6:2)
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (Eph. 6:18)
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. (Rom. 8: 26-27)
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (Matt. 7:7-12)
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. (2 Cor. 1:8-11)
I recently started reading Beth Moore's book, "Praying God's Word" . Perhaps you would find it helpful.
With much love,
Mom
@pkduet, @Barrygw -- Good thoughts... thanks...
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