Be careful what you pray for!

According to a recent article, 50% of the people surveyed believe that God can save the dying and 20% of the doctors surveyed said that God can reverse a fatal prognosis.

Really?

Uhhh....God made all of us and He has brought the dead back to life; I don't think that curing a little disease is a hard thing for Him!

Here's the dilemma: is it always wise to ask for God's healing? God is compassionate and He hears the cries of our hearts, but should we always make that cry?

Here's why I ask:

Isaiah 38: 1 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, "This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover." 2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, 3 "Remember, O LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: 5 "Go and tell Hezekiah, 'This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. 6 And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city. 7 " 'This is the LORD's sign to you that the LORD will do what he has promised: 8 I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.' " So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down."

Now, that would seem to be a good thing, no? 15 years of life is a great blessing, is it not? Well, I guess that depends on the price, doesn't it?

Isaiah 39:1 At that time Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of his illness and recovery. 2 Hezekiah received the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine oil, his entire armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them. 3 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, "What did those men say, and where did they come from?" "From a distant land," Hezekiah replied. "They came to me from Babylon." 4 The prophet asked, "What did they see in your palace?" "They saw everything in my palace," Hezekiah said. "There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them." 5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD Almighty: 6 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. 7 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon."

So, Hezekiah was allowed to live....just long enough to see his people carried away to Babylon in captivity and his sons castrated (remember, the thought of not being able to carry on with your family line was the WORST thing that could happen to you in biblical times!). It was surely not a life he would have chosen had he known. Despite this, he rejoiced and counted the blessing he WAS given, thanking God that his people would know peace in his lifetime:

Isaiah 39: 8 "The word of the LORD you have spoken is good," Hezekiah replied. For he thought, "There will be peace and security in my lifetime."

I said all of that to say this; should we not trust in God and ask only that His will be accomplished when we pray? I have to admit, it's not an easy thing! As much as I believe it, I ask for selfish things and forget to ask that only God's will be done.

I guess that's about as bad as it gets. I mean, a REAL Christian trusts God fully and asks only that His will be done in evidence of that trust, right? I wish it were that simple! The fact is, we're human and we have mistrust at the core of our being!

I love Jesus with my whole heart, so why is it so difficult to trust that His will for my life is what's best? Why would that be hard for any believer to believe?

It's not.

Lord, help me avoid the trap of my own humanity and help me come to trust You fully in every aspect of my life! Lord, exercise Your will in my life, I pray!