When I pray, do I pray with expectations?  Do I believe that God hears and receives my praises?  Do I believe He cares about my needs?  Do I believe He will answer my prayers?  Yes, yes, yes and yes.  Do you believe these things?  Do you pray with expectations?  Without the belief that God hears our prayers, is there any real value to our praying?  If we do not have the expectation of answers to our prayers, can we pray with sincerity and faith?

This morning I read the story of Naaman and his being healed from leprosy.  A few things struck me as I read the story.  As in many Bible stories, the time frame isn't exactly clear.  How long did it take from the time the little girl mentioned the prophet in Samaria until the time that Naaman went to see him? How many discussions took place in the home about approaching the king with the idea or of how dangerous it would be for Naaman to go into enemy territory?  The information is not necessary to the story; I just mention it as a point of interest.

Read the following story and note these points:

• The little girl was in a spot to be used of God for His glory.
• Naaman was desperate enough to approach the king of Aram about going to the prophet.
• Naaman had enough hope to go into enemy territory to seek the healing.
• Naaman had enough faith to trust in the letter of his king when going to see the king of Israel.
• Naaman had enough respect to bring gifts.
• There was a certain amount of opposition in the skepticism of the king of Israel.
• Elisha heard of the event and sent for Naaman.
• Naaman had a preconceived idea that the prophet would see him personally.
• Naaman rebelled when the answer didn't come as he expected it to.
• Naaman wanted to get the answer the way he wanted it.
• Naaman listened to the reasoning of his servants.
• Naaman humbled himself and followed the instruction he had received.
• Naaman received his healing.

2 Kings 5:1-14
Naaman Is Healed

Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master, and highly respected, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper.  Now the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she waited on Naaman's wife.  She said to her mistress, "I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy."  Naaman went in and told his master, saying, "Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel."  Then the king of Aram said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." He departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothes.  He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, "And now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy."  When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But consider now, and see how he is seeking a quarrel against me."  It happened when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word to the king, saying, "Why have you torn your clothes? Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel."  So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha.  Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean."  But Naaman was furious and went away and said, "Behold, I thought, 'He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.'  "Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage.  Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, "My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, 'Wash, and be clean'?"  So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean.

Concerning prayer, this story relates what we sometimes do when we seek God.  We approach God with our request and sometimes we supply the possible answer.  While it is not wrong to consider all possible solutions or answers to our request, we should be careful not to expect God to respond in only the way we want Him to answer us.  We sometimes fail to factor in His sovereignty, His will, and His glory.  We tend to look at things from our own point of view, not the viewpoint of God.  We need to approach God with an attitude of humility and gratitude.

Have you ever had an experience that was similar to what Naaman went through?  When reading this story I immediately went back to a time in 2003 when I was diagnosed with myofascial pain syndrome.  For over one year, every joint and muscle ached, sometimes bringing me to tears.  I prayed for healing quite often.  As time passed, my daily prayer became, "Lord, give me the grace to get through the day."  That was the year that I learned what it really was to depend on the grace of God daily.

I remember quite vividly the morning I was praying and asking God what it was all about and asking yet again for a healing and for grace to make it through the day.  All of a sudden I had an answer.  The whole answer was in my mind immediately.  I did not hear an audible voice or any other strange sensations.  All I knew was that I had the whole plan in my mind in an instant as if I had just read a paragraph or as if someone had just recited it to me.  The plan was this:

• Go on vacation as planned and enjoy it. (The following week was a planned family vacation.)
• Upon returning home, fast for one week.
• While fasting and praying, eliminate the sinful behavior that I was tolerating in my life.
• After the fast, call the elders of the church for prayer. (James 5:13-16)

I took the family on vacation and it turned out to be one of the best vacations we had ever taken.  I still give thanks for it and the memories are more vivid than most other recollections of mine.  I still find this to be the most amazing part of the whole event.  That God would send me off with such a blessing before the work was to begin was simply amazing.  Upon my return home, I fasted for one week while praying both for the healing and against the temptation that beset me.  The following Sunday was the time to seek prayer and to confess my sin.  God had dealt with me and the teaching of James was the answer for that time.  The church I was attending always had prayer teams during the worship time of the service.  Members could go forward for prayer and I was no stranger to going up for prayer or to being one of the team members.  On that Sunday I was the head usher and I remember my mind starting to doubt the plan.  Was I carrying this too far?  Did I actually just imagine the whole thing?  Was it really an answer from God?  On my way to church I was praying and said, "God, it would sure be good if the Pastor was on a prayer team today."  I didn't want to have to round up the Pastor for prayer, but if I went to him as one of the prayer team members, nobody would think anything of it.  I got to church and looked at the schedule.  To my pleasure, he was on a team that day.  I immediately sought out the other elders only to find that one of them was not there.  I asked my regular prayer partner to stand in for him after explaining what I was about to do.  I went forward at the appropriate time and the other gentleman came down behind me.  I told this story to my Pastor and the others and I confessed my sin and asked for prayer.  There were no fireworks, no special sensations or anything different from all the other times I had prayed.  I did however believe that I had done what I believed I was supposed to do.  That night my wife asked me if I had taken my medication.  If I did not take the pills each night, the following day was pure torment.  I responded to her that I didn't believe that I needed them anymore.  She warned me that I would be sorry if I didn't take them.  I wasn't acting out in defiance or a false sense of security.  I truly had a peace and the belief that I didn't need the pills.  It was not something I worked up within myself; it was the grace of God that gave me the peace.  The previous Saturday night was the last time I had taken the pills.  The ailment completely faded over the next few days.  The healing was a gift from God for which I am still thankful.

The faith came from the Word of God.  The obedience came from the love I have for God.  The love for God came from a relationship nurtured in prayer and the Word.  There is nothing special about me that I deserved such a gift.  It was simply the love of God and His timing in accomplishing what He desired to do.  He was in control of the situation from beginning to end and He worked out many things in my life.  He also affected others through my experience.  While in the midst of a trial or adversity, we don't always see what His full plan is and we rarely see what effect it will have on others.  I do know that He was with me then and He is with me now.  While there is no set formula for moving the hand of God, I can see parallels to the story of Naaman in some ways.  It takes faith and trust in God to step out and do what is required in the face of doubters and skeptics.  It takes time in the Word to make sure it is biblically sound.  It takes time in prayer to work out the issues.  Don't forget to listen.

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