IT'S NATURAL TO WANT PRAYER TO BE EFFECTIVE. Whether you're praying for someone else or for yourself, when you sit down to pray you're hoping for healing. But at some point, any anxious hope for change must give way to inspired thoughts that honor God. To a feeling of trust that He's revealing the perfect order of His creation, as described in the first chapter of the Bible—"And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good" (Gen. 1:31).
But when intense desire for change—for evidence of healing—is distracting me from inspiration, I have to step back and ask myself: What is my role when I'm praying?
A deep desire to understand this role can make prayer more powerful, and makes healing through prayer more natural, more possible. The Bible provides substantial insight and counsel regarding the would-be healer's role. At first glance, though, there appears to be a dichotomy.
