What does EGW write about...
Ellen Gould White über: "What does Ellen White say about healing in today's time? Why doesn't God simply heal us when we ask Him?"
Answer
Ellen White teaches that God hears prayers for healing, but often answers more wisely than we request, as He alone knows a person's heart and future. Healing is sometimes withheld when the individual violates the health laws by their lifestyle or when recovery would not bring glory to God. We should always place our petitions trustfully under the condition of His will, for He gives us only what serves our highest good.
God's Wisdom and Will in Healing
We no longer prescribe a way and we also do not try to make the Lord conform to our wishes. If the sick person's life can glorify Him, we pray that he may live; yet, not as we want, but as He wills. Our faith can be just as firm and reliable when we entrust the desire to the all‑wise God and, without feverish anxiety, leave everything to Him in complete trust.
Why we should not ask for healing unconditionally
But it is not always safe to ask for unconditional healing... He [Jesus] loves them better than we possibly can. Therefore, if it serves your honor and the welfare of these sufferers to raise them to health, we ask you in the name of Jesus that health be granted to them at this time. In a petition of this kind no lack of faith is revealed.
The connection between obedience and prayer answer
I saw that the reason why God did not fully hear the prayers of His servants for the sick among us was that He could not be glorified while they violated the health laws. ... Faith and good works should go hand in hand to relieve the afflicted among us.
God's foresight regarding the sick person's future
He alone is familiar with the past life of each individual and knows what his future will be. He, who knows the hearts of all people, knows whether the person, if restored, would glorify His name or would dishonor Him through relapse and apostasy. ... Demanding recovery without submission to His will is not right.
God gives us what is best for us
God is too wise to err, and too good to withhold any good from His saints who walk sincerely. ... If this is so [our petitions are not good for us], our wise and good Father hears our prayers and will answer, sometimes immediately; but He gives us the things that serve our best welfare and His own honor.
Dangers of false prayer answers
We have anxiously observed those who were almost given back from the dead. We have seen how some of them, especially the young, were restored to health and forgot God, lived extravagantly ... and became a disgrace to those who feared [to pray with the condition of His will]. They did not live to honor and glorify God, but to curse Him with their sinful lives.
- Prayer for the sick Ellen White
- God's will and healing
- Health laws and prayer
Original Sources (English)
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