20/20: God's Vision For My LifeSample

I Am Willing

By Alan Smith

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:4–5

Class was wrapping up. For more than an hour, we had explored what the Scriptures say about the kingdom of God. We discussed the reality of a God who is present among us and willing to work on our behalf according to His purposes to extend the rule of His own authority in the earth. Throughout the evening, an increasing sense of anticipation had permeated the room. We weren’t merely talking about God’s presence in the abstract; we were being invited to experience His presence and power in that moment.

All over the room, heads bowed as I invited the Lord to work among us in power. As we waited in a thick silence, I felt the slightest impression.

Right hip.

So I asked, “Is there anyone here who has a problem in their right hip? I feel God wants to heal you tonight.”

A single hand quickly shot up to my right. She explained that her hip had been giving her trouble for some time. Pain and limited range of motion had been a continual hindrance. I asked her husband to lay his hand gently on her hip as I prayed: “In the name of Jesus, I command your hip to be healed. All pain must go. Let the full range of motion be restored now.”

I instructed her to move her leg, to try and do what she couldn’t do before and let me know the result. Her face shifted in a moment from an expression of nervous hope to excited joy as she began to move her leg back and forth without pain or limitation. One month later, she found me at the conclusion of another class to report that since that night she had continued without any pain and had gained the full restoration of her range of motion. She was even jogging three times a week without any problems!

That wasn’t the coolest part of the evening though…an evening where we saw three hips, one knee, one lower back, and a rotator cuff completely healed. I later found out that as this precious lady was receiving healing for her hip, there was a gentleman sitting two sections over and four rows back who needed healing too. He just hadn’t lifted his hand when I spoke out regarding God’s desire to heal right hips. As he sat there watching this lady receive healing, God went ahead and healed his hip too! He felt something happening in his hip area, and when he stood to check it out, he discovered he also had experienced complete healing…even though he hadn’t asked for or received any specific prayer!

This story serves to illustrate a powerful truth—God is willing to heal. He’s so willing that what He does for one person who raises their hand and stands to receive healing He will also do for someone who doesn’t. That evening, God’s desire to heal flowed and found expression in a similar need nearby.

Matthew 8:1–2 says, “Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. ‘Lord,’ the man said, ‘if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.’” Many of us can easily relate to that leper. We need healing. We know Jesus is the source of healing. We are convinced He is able to heal. Like the leper, there is only one issue left to resolve. Is Jesus willing to heal?

Consider Jesus’ response to the leper: “I am willing…be healed” (Matthew 8:3).

Jesus doesn’t change (Hebrews 13:8). He is the ultimate revelation of God’s nature (John 14:9; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3). Can you think of a single person who came to Jesus for physical, spiritual, or emotional healing who didn’t receive it? Jesus has provided for our spiritual, emotional, and physical healing through His atoning work on the cross (Isaiah 53:3–5).

Not everyone I pray for experiences healing. I don’t know all the reasons why. I have seen this though—the more I come to believe that God is willing to heal, the more healing I see. There’s a direct correlation between our confidence in God’s willingness to heal and the manifestation of His healing power.

Are you willing to hear Jesus say to you today what He said to the leper 2,000 years ago? Are you willing to allow His powerful voice to begin to stretch the borders of your own expectations in this area? Are you willing to allow the authority of what Jesus has said in Scripture to stand as the fixed point to which your past experiences of disappointment in this area must bend?

Is it possible that God is more willing to heal than you have previously realized? Ask Jesus to speak to you today. Take a moment to listen and respond. He is willing.

We cannot exercise our faith beyond what we believe to be possible.
~ John G. Lake

Memory Verse

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:4–5