Can you ask God to heal you?
2Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am weak; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled.
3My soul also is greatly troubled; But You, O LORD—how long?
Psalm 6 is a prayer of David. He asks directly for healing, and he asks “how long?” You do not need to soften your request. People ask God plainly for healing all through the Bible.
What does James say to do?
13Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.
14Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
15And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
James tells the sick to call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil. Christians understand this in different ways. Some churches practise anointing as James describes. Others read the oil as a sign of God's care, or as the ordinary medicine of the day. Most agree on the heart of it: do not be ill alone. Ask your church to pray with you.
What if healing does not come?
7And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.
8Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
9And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Paul does not say what his “thorn in the flesh” was, and Christians have suggested many things. He asked three times for it to go. The answer was grace, and strength in weakness.
Paul also wrote about friends who were ill. One recovered:
26since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick.
27For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
Another, Trophimus, Paul had to leave behind in Miletus because he was sick. The Bible holds both: real healing, and faithful people who stayed unwell.
Be slow to blame yourself, or anyone else, when healing does not come. When Jesus' disciples asked whose sin had caused a man's blindness, He gave them this answer:
2And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.
How can you pray?
- Ask God for healing, plainly.
- Tell Him what is hardest: the pain, the waiting, the fear, the things you can no longer do.
- Ask for what you need today: good doctors, sleep, patience, people to help.
- Ask a few people to pray with you, and let them know how you are.
For example: “Lord, I am tired of being ill. Please heal me. Give the doctors wisdom, and give me strength for today's treatment. Whatever happens, keep me close to You. Amen.” This is a prepared example, not a promise of a particular outcome.
Should you keep seeing your doctor?
Yes. Prayer and medical care are not rivals. Paul's friend Luke, who wrote one of the Gospels, was a doctor. Keep following your doctor's advice, and pray for the people treating you.
If you would like help finding words, write a prayer. If the waiting for results is the hardest part, read how to pray while you wait.