'Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God. Acts 14:15
Paul and Barnabas have been sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the people in Lystra. Because God worked through them to show signs and wonders such as healing, the people thought they were their Greek gods come down to earth. We got into a discussion last week and the statistic was thrown out that God heals miraculously through prayer about 3% of the time. I believe from my experience that this statistic is probably pretty accurate. I've prayed for many people over the years and I've seen one healing, one (temporary) healing, and several times when symptoms were eased. I don't know why God chooses to heal some and not others, but what I've learned is that when it happens, it isn't me that heals, but it is my faithfulness to pray that allows God to work.
A discussion came up on a website about why so many people are afraid to pray out loud for healing. I don't think it's a problem of thinking 'what happens if the person isn't healed,' We're much more likely to be worried about what happens if they are healed. The silent prayer before we begin should always be, "Lord, lead my prayer to be what you will and what you want for this person."
We are mortals and if we are faithful to share the good news of Jesus Christ, God can and will use our faithfulness to accomplish his purpose on earth. The flip side is that if we never step out in faith and risk failure, then we will never see success; we may never see God's hand at work in us, through us, or around us.
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