Have Christians A Right To Pray "If It Be Thy Will" Concerning Sickness?

In the book John G. Lake His Life, His Sermons, His Boldness of Faith, there's a chapter with a sermon entitled, "Have Christians A Right To Pray 'If It Be Thy Will' Concerning Sickness?"

Today I wish to bring a few excerpts from it.

Luke 11:1-4
1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

Beloved, if there is one thing in the world I wish I could do for the people of Spokane, it would be to teach them to pray. Not teach them to say prayers, but teach them to pray. There is a mighty lot of difference saying prayers and praying. "The prayer of FAITH shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him: (James 5:15)

The prayuer of faith has power in it. The prayer of faith has trust in it. The prayer of faith has healing in it for the soul and body. The disciples wanted to know how to pray real prayers, and Jesus said unto them. "When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven....They will be done" (Luke 11:2)

Everybody stops there, and they resign their intelligence at that point to the unknown God. When you approach people and say to them, "You have missed the spirit of prayer,: they look at you in amazement. But, beloved, it is a fact I want to show to you this afternoon asw it is written in the Word of God. It does not say, "If it be they will" and stop there. There is a comma there, not a period. The prayer is this, "They will be done, as in heaven, so in earth" (Luke 11:2) That is a might different, is it not? Not "Thy will be done. Let calamity come. Let my children be stricken with fever, or my son go to the insane asylum or my daughter go to the home of the feeble minded." That is not what Jesus was teaching the people to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

How is the will of God done in heaven? For a little time I want to direct your thoughts with mine heavenward. We step over there and we look all about the city. We note its beauty and grandeur. We see the Lamb of God. We do not observe a single drunken man on the golden streets; not a single man on crutches; not a woman smelling of sin.

A man came in the other day and was telling me what an ardent Christian heis. But after he left. I said, "Lift the windows and let the balance of the man out." Men ought to smell like they pray. We defile ourselves with many things.

A dear man came to me the other day in great distress. He said his eyes were going blind. The physician told him he had only a year of sight, perhaps less. As I endeavored to comfort him and turn his face toward God, I reverently put my hands on his eyes and asked God for Christ's sake to heal him, and as I did so the Spirit of God kept speaking to my oul and aying "Amaurosis."

I said, "What is amaurosis?" As soon as I could get to a dictionary, I looked up the word to see what it is. It is a disease of the eyes, caused by the use of nicotine. That was what was the matter with the man. The Spirit of the Lord was trying to tell me, but I was too dull; I did not understand. I do not know what the man's name is, but the other day God sent him back to my office. As we sat together I related the incident to him and said, "My brother, when you quit poisoning yourself, the probability is that you may not need any healing from God."

We defile ourselves in various ways: we go on defiling ourselves; and some people are able to stand the defilement a long time and throw it off. Others are not able to . It poisons their system and destroys their faculties. One man may drink whiskey and live to be an old man. Another may go to wreck in a few months or years. Some systems will throw off much; others will not.

Now, when we got to the beautiful City, we did not find any of these conditions and so we said, "Angel, what is the reason you do not have any sin up here?

"Why the reason we do not have any sin here is because THE WILL OF GOD IS BEING DONE."

I have been used to looking for the sick, and if I see a man with a lame leg or a woman with a blind eye, I will see that a way down the street. I have mingled with the sick all my life. So I look around up there, and I do not see anybody on crutches, or anybody that is lame, no cnacers or consumption, or any sickness at all. So I say to my guide, "Angel, tell me what the reason is that you do not have any sickness up here?"

The Angel replies, "THE WILL OF GOD IS BEING DONE HERE." No sin where the will of God is being done. No sickness where the will of God is being done.

Then I return to the earth, and I can pray the prayer with a new understanding. "Thy will be done in me on earth as thy will is done in heaven." Just as the will of God is done there, so let the will of God be done here. Let the will of God be done in me. "Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth."

But someone says, "Brother, do you not remember in Matthew 8 how a leper came to Jesus one day and said to Him, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean?" (Matthew 8:2).

The leper said, when he prayed, "If it be thy will," why should I not say that too? Well, he was ignorant of what the will of Christ was concerning sickness. Perhaps he had been up on the mountainside and had heard Jesus preach that wonderful sermon on the mount, for it was at its close that he came to Jesus and said, "If thous wilt, thou canst make me lean." He knew Christ's ability to heal but did not understand his willingness. Jesus' reply settled the question for the leper and it should settle the question for every other man for ever. Jesus said, "I will' be thou clean" (Acts 8:3). If He ever had said anything else to any other man, there might be some reason for us to interject "If it be thy will" in our prayers when we ask God for something He has declared His will on. "If" always doubts. The prayer of faith has no "if's" in it.

Suppose a drunken man kneels down at this platform and says, "I want to find God. I want to be a Christian." Every man and woman in this house who knows God would say, "Yes," right away, "Tell him to pray, to have faith in God, and God will deliver him."

Why do you do it? Simply because there is no question in your mind concerning God's will in saving a sinner from his sins. You know He is ready to do it when a sinner is ready to confess his sins. But you take another step over, and here is another poor fellow by his side with a lame let, and he comes limping along and kneels down, or tries to, and right away a lot of folks say, "I wish he would send for a doctor," or else pray, "If it by thy will, make him well," forgetting "who forgiveth all thin iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases: (Psalm 103:3)

Instead of Christians taking the responsibility, they try to put the responsibility on God. Everything there is no question in the mind of God concerning the salvation of a sinner. No more is there question concerning the healing of the sick one. It is in the atonement of Jesus Christ, bless God. His atonement was unto the uttermost; to the last need of man. The responsibility rests purely solely and entirely on man. Jesus put it there. Jesus said, "When ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and YE SHALL HAVE THEM" (Mark 11:24). No questions or "ifs" in the words of Jesus. If He ever spoke with emphasis on any question, it was on the subject of God's will and the result of faith in prayer. Indeed, He did not even speak them in ordinary words, but in the custom of the East. He said, "Verily, verily." Amen, amen -- the same as if I would stand in an American court and say, "I swear I will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God." So the Easterner raised his hand and said, "Amen, amen," or "Verily, verily" -- "with the solemnity of an oath I say unto you." So Jesus said, "When ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."