James 1:5-8 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (6) But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. (7) For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; (8) he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
If we are unsure that what we are asking is according to God’s will then we will always be in two minds about our request. In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit clearly tells us that if we are double-minded about our request then we can be assured that we will not receive anything from God our Father. It cannot be said any clearer than that. For example, if you are asking God for your healing then you must be fully convinced in your own mind that it is His will to heal you. In other words you have to be single-minded on that which you are asking for in order to receive from God. How many times have you heard the following prayer uttered, “Lord if it be Your will”. It is impossible to ask in prayer believing and include the following statement in your prayer “if it be Your will”. Someone will say but the leper prayed like that and the Lord Jesus healed him, for the leper said to the Lord “If You are willing, You can make me clean” (Mark 1:40). Clearly this leper believed that Jesus could heal him. He just wasn’t sure whether Jesus was willing to heal him. Most believers fall into this category. They believe that Jesus can grant them their request. They are just not sure whether Jesus is willing to grant them their request. So is it correct for the church to pray like the leper did? The answer is that it depends what you are praying for. The leper did not know what the Lord’s will was regarding his healing. The Lord answered his question by telling him that He was willing to heal him, which He then also did. God has no favourites. And so if it was the will of the Lord heal the leper then it is His will to heal all His children. In other words our Lord has made His will known to us regarding our healing. He has said explicitly that He is willing to heal us. For us to now ask Him to heal us if He is willing is to doubt what He has already said in His word. That prayer will go unanswered. This principle applies to every request that we make known to God. If God has already made His will known regarding that which we are praying for then we cannot pray “if You are willing”, for that would be to doubt what He has already said in His word on the subject and those prayers will therefore go unanswered. We find out what His known will is from the word of God.
Michael E.B. Maher
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