Have you ever wondered why sometimes you’ll have to keep praying over and over again for a simple prayer to be answered? God’s not deaf. There’s a reason for it.
You’ve seen it before: A man or woman prays over a visibly sick or disabled person. Not much appears to happen after the first prayer, so they do it again, and again, and again, until the result of the change is evident. They kept praying for the healing.
I’ll be honest, it takes serious faith, tenacity, and perseverance to solidify your belief that God will change a situation after the first prayer seemed ineffective. But the truth is, this is the faith that the Lord requires of us. We must have that kind of faith.
But why? Why doesn’t the healing sometimes come through the first time around? Take this situation for instance:
To the right is a video of Todd White ministering on the streets of Las Vegas. White is a well-known evangelist who has an amazing gift of healing (through Christ). In this video, he prays to the Father in the name of Jesus for a man’s right leg to grow out to relieve him of back pain.
As you watch the video (starting at 00:34 secs), you’ll notice how White continues to pray for the man until he gets results. The man being prayed for is in awe, and in total fascination with his miracle!
What happened here? He kept praying for the healing!
Did you know that Jesus sometimes does things just to fascinate and/or amaze us? Here’s biblical proof:
“For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.” – John 5:20
Did you notice that Todd White had to pray three times for the manifestation of his prayer request to come to fruition? Again, but why did he have to keep praying for the healing? The answer is found in Mark 8:23-25:
” So He (Jesus) took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.” Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.”
In the scripture above, was the problem too big? Absolutely not! He’s God! (John 1:1-3, 14).
Jesus didn’t have to pray for or lay hands on the blind man twice. Remember, He’s the One Who, standing outside of an occupied tomb, commanded a man (Lazarus) who was dead for four days to raise back to life—and He only had to speak once!
Not only that but when Lazarus got up [from the dead], Jesus felt it necessary to complete yet another miracle that isn’t often preached about:
When Lazarus came out of his tomb, no one came to assist him in taking off the bandages (or shrouding) that he was bound in from head to toe, so Jesus commanded the bandages to “loose him”, and it did! Again, Jesus only commanded once (John 11:38-44).
Referring back to the blind man, I believe the reasoning for Jesus praying/laying hands on the blind man more than once, was for our faith. He used this method in order to show us how to strengthen our prayer life and to fortify our faith and trust in Him. We must keep praying for the healing.
The Word of God even emphasizes that we are to pray with consistency (1 Thess. 5:16-18) and never lose faith (Matt. 21:21).
How do you get that faith? The answer is simple: Ask Holy Spirit to soften your heart to receive a childlike faith.
You see, you don’t have to convince a child to believe, they just do. And this is how Jesus says we’re supposed to be. Remember, He doesn’t call us to be childish, but rather…child-like (Matt. 18:2-4). And without faith, it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews. 11:6).
In order to gain or restore this powerful kind of faith and kill your doubts, you may have to put aside some theological doctrine that you may have been taught in seminary, church, or school, and look to the Solid Source, which is the infallible Word of God. That’s what I had to do, and by doing so, I can honestly say that 85% of what I know about the Lord and His Word came directly from Him and His Word.
Holy Spirit will interpret the scriptures and bring them to life in your spirit—causing you to gain the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding that only comes from time spent alone with Him.
Will you strengthen your faith, starting today?