It Is Presumption to Pray for Healing When Knowingly Violating the Laws of Health
By W. S. Sadler
INEFFECTUAL PRAYER, OR PRAYER OF PRESUMPTION. NO. 2.
It Is Presumption to Pray for Healing When Knowingly Violating the Laws of Health.
“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you; that He will not hear.” Isa. 59:2. It is presumption to pray for deliverance from the bonds of affliction when “sin lieth at the door.” The individual who is knowingly and continuously violating the laws of health,—trampling under foot physical light and truth,—if he should pray for a special manifestation of divine healing, or if the elders of the church could be called to pray for him, such praying could only be the prayer of presumption. Says the Lord by Jeremiah the prophet: “Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.” Jer. 5:25. It is iniquity that turns away health, and it is sin that withholds healing. So it is but reasonable to expect that God will require that our iniquities and sins shall be taken out of the way before we can expect to observe the special workings of His healing power; and until these obstructions to health and life are removed, it is presumption to pray for the miraculous healing of the sick. As long as the healing power of God within the man is disregarded, ignored, and continuously hindered, it is presumption to pray for miraculous outbursts of health and arbitrary manifestations of healing power. A little common sense and sanctified judgment would go a long way toward clearing up many of the difficulties connected with the various phases of the great question of healing, and save honest souls from running off into fanaticism and accepting dangerous doctrines and erroneous teaching, under the guise of so-called divine healing. Prayer Will Not Take the Place of Personal Obedience.
“Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it; tho these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves. Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast, tho Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter, they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness. For thus saith the Lord God: How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?” Eze. 14:17–21. Praying will not take the place of yielding personal obedience to the righteous commands of God. In the Scripture above quoted, we are warned of a time coming when the overflowing scourge shall pass through the land; when pestilence, sword, and famine shall be upon the people, and we are expressly told that in that time even Noah, Daniel, and Job could not, by their prayers, stay the just judgments of God. There will be a time in the history of this world when even the prayers of righteous men will in this respect avail nothing; and that time comes in every individual’s experience when he presumes to think that prayer can atone for continued transgression, or in any sense take the place of personal obedience. Then his praying becomes an act of presumption and not an act of faith. The prayers of the children of God will not suffice to save the wicked from the results of their persistent transgression of the Divine laws. The Lord is doing the best He can for the impenitent sinner. God’s wrath is simply His love manifested to those who have rejected His mercy and truth. Prayer can not take the place of obedience, and only those who obey can pray the prayer of faith. Prayer Will Not Take the Place of Confession and Repentance.
“If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chron. 7:14. Prayer that is preceded by repentance secures forgiveness and healing. Says the Psalmist, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” Ps. 66:18. No amount of praying will take the place of the confession and forsaking of sin. The transgressor must cease to do evil and learn to do well. Confession of sin accompanies the prayer of faith that saves the sick. See James 5:15, 16. “If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward Him; if iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.” Job 11:13, 14. San Francisco, Cal. W. S. SADLER.