Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Faith submits, it does not demand. Pray according to God’s will, trust His sovereignty, and find true hope.

Friend, pray and pray fervently in faith to the sovereign God for your need. But friend, faith is not manipulative, and it does not possess the power in itself to move the hand of God in accordance with one’s will. God is not compelled by our words, nor governed by our desires. Prayer changes us. It conforms our hearts to the will of God. We do not bring God’s will into submission to our own. We submit our will to His, our desires to His. So then, when we pray, we can ask anything in His name, according to His will, and we will have it. But we must ask ourselves, can we honestly pray, “Thy will be done”? Or do we cringe at those words and seek instead to take matters into our own hands, claiming an authority we do not possess, attempting to obtain outcomes we demand, and manipulating Scripture to make the will of God conform to our desires?

If we follow the error of those who manipulate God’s Word to say what they desire, turning it into promises He has not made, we deceive ourselves, we deceive others, we lead men according to their sinful desires, and we bring destructive doctrines into the church. Many are following the destructive doctrines of false teachers and are building upon them new and even more dangerous errors.

If our love is truly for God and is shaped according to sound doctrine, then our faith is not that He will do what we desire, nor that Scripture will conform to our expectations, nor that we can usurp an authority He has not given us in order to claim the outcome we seek. No. Faith trusts God. It trusts His sovereignty, even over our sufferings. It rests in the truth that He works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. That is not a promise that He will work all things according to our will or our desires. We are not sovereign. Our words do not have creative power. We are not masters of our own destiny. God is sovereign, even over our suffering. We can trust Him. But we must ask, do we trust Him? Or do we only trust Him insofar as He does what we desire? That is not faith.

It is grievous how many are deceived by doctrines that prove false, and yet they still cling to them. Their faith is not in the sovereign God, but in their words, their declarations, and their twisting of God’s Word to make promises He has not made. The results reveal the falsehood, and yet they go on to deceive the minds of the willing.

We are not guaranteed physical healing now in the atonement. That is a mishandling of Scripture and an overrealized eschatology. And yet, the truth is far more beautiful. We who are being saved find a healing that we could not obtain for ourselves, that He has borne our sins in His body, and that by His stripes we are healed. Sadly, many quote that verse in part and exclusively in the context of claiming physical healing now. That is not what it promises. We shall one day have glorified bodies. That is not now. Now we suffer physically like others, but with hope. Our promise is greater. When we say, “By His stripes we are healed,” it speaks of His efficacious work on the cross, His power over the grave, and that He is seated at the right hand of the Father. We are healed. By His stripes we are healed. We who are in Christ.

And friend, to use 3 John 2 as Oral Roberts has led many deceived souls to do, claiming that verse as a promise that it is always God’s will for you to prosper and be in good health, is a gross abuse of the text. It has led many to claim healing and wealth that never comes, because God did not promise it. Some have even suffered greatly, and died, under such false teachings.

The world mocks because of these abuses, not knowing that they do not represent Christ, His Kingdom, His bride, or the inauguration or consummation of His Kingdom.

Pray always, but pray according to God’s will. It is not always God’s will to heal. It is not always God’s will to act in accordance with the desires of our hearts. Therefore, let us pray that God would change our hearts to desire what is in accordance with His perfect will.

Does God heal? Yes. Is it always His will? No. Can we trust Him with whatever it is His will to do? Yes. Can we trust Him in our sufferings? Yes. There is none other better than the sovereign God to trust in all things. We can trust Him.

Dear saint, grace be with you.