The Year of our Lord, Jesus Christ
Mark 1:41
And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.
In the verse just before today’s verse it is written: And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. What faith! What a prayer of faith! That we should pray in such a way today. Did you notice the leper’s prayer? If thou wilt. The sick man knew that the Lord had power to heal him, but did not know if it were within the purview of His will to do so. All the dying man could do was ask. If it were not the Lord’s will to heal him, he would not be healed. If it were the Lord’s will to heal him, he would be healed. Either way, he could go his way in rest, knowing that the Lord’s will was done.
The Lord was moved with compassion. This leper made no deal, did not try to manipulate the Lord, nor did He try to use any scripture quotations to “box the Lord in.” He simply said, “If you will, you can make me clean.” All the while bowing down before him in humility and submission. This moved the Lord.
I will; be thou clean. That is all it took. Five simple one syllable words and it was done. For the very next verse states; And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. The leper learned the Lord’s will in the matter. His will was to heal him of leprosy. No doubt, if the will of the Lord were otherwise the leper would have no choice but to accept his fate. Either way, the sick man put the issue on the Lord evidently willing to accept either result.
Oftentimes when prayer is offered up it is done so in this manner, “Lord, bless this that I am going to do.” Of course, for the sake of illustration this sample prayer is direct and curt, usually it includes many more words, arguments, scriptures, and manipulations all meant to somehow coerce the answer the person wants. Instead of simply trusting God to perform His will on the matter, an attempt is made to make the Lord perform the person’s will. Now, no doubt we are invited to…come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) This is the believer’s privilege. But true boldness in prayer is the willingness to accept the Lord’s answer.
The leper prayed boldly. He stated his desire but left it all up the will of the Lord. That His children today would be so bold. To simply bring the petition to God in prayer asking Him to perform His will in the matter and be willing to accept His will, either way whether it be I will or not.
This poor, sick, dying, leper returned home that day clean. He is a walking talking testimony of the truth of John 15:3: Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. All we really need is His Word on the matter. For His Word will always reveal His will.
Until next time,
William T. Howe, Ph.D.
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