As the leper has patches on his skin which repulse those around him and force him into isolation, so we have patches on our heart that cause repulsive behaviors. For this reason, we need to go to Jesus, as the leper in Mark 1:40 does, and say, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” I understand that some people have a problem with saying to God the if you are willing part of that request, but it is the most important part of it. The Leper’s request was one which humbled himself in the presence of God. Anyone can make God his/her genie and say, “God, make me clean!” The art of making requests to God is in recognizing that we are subject to his will; it’s not the other way around. The Bible tells us in verse 41 that Jesus is filled with compassion when we bring this request to him, and we expect this to mean cleansing. But it doesn’t always. I have found that there are two ways that God responds to us when we bring this type of request to him.
The first is the more obvious of the two, the one that I have been speaking about. Reading on, the Bible says that Jesus “reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ Jesus said. ‘Be clean!’” Immediately after Jesus said this, the leper was clean of his disease. This is the response that we constantly expect from God, the reason why we think God is always willing to make us clean, and the reason why we blame our problems and life-struggles on him. It is because of this expectation that so many people are disappointed with the answer to their prayer. People forget that God is our Creator, and therefore our Master, and we must submit to His will rather than asking Him to adhere to our own will. Yes, God wants us to be healthy and what not - that is why He has prepared His kingdom for us and the reason why there will be no more pain or suffering when we get there. However, we tend to forget that we are not there. We are here. We are sinners. We are proud. This is the reason why God sometimes does not cleanse us, but rather responds in a second way.
In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul explains the second response that we so often forget. He explains the reason why we must include if it is your will in our requests to God. Paul wrote, “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me” (verse 7). There is some dispute as to what Paul’s thorn really was. Many say that his thorn was ceaseless temptation, others say it was eye problems, or a speech disability, constant opponents…the list could go on, and some people get stuck in trying to figure out what Paul’s thorn was without giving any thought to what their own thorn is. Paul pleaded three times with God to remove this thorn. What are you constantly pleading with God to remove? My thorn is a strong tongue, as described by James 3:1-12. I am constantly fighting the temptation to loosen the reigns on my tongue and let it speak freely. Everyone has one, so what is your thorn? Have you ever given up on God because of your thorn? Many people do. They think, “I have prayed and prayed and no change has come. Even God cannot take the thorn from my side.” We can all learn from Paul because he reminds us that God does not always grant cleansing. In regards to our thorn, God replies to our request as He replied to Paul. He says to us, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (verse 9).
And so, God will either cleanse you of the patches on your heart, or God will allow Satan to torment you for His own good purposes and always within His perfect will. But how do we respond to these two completely different answers to prayer?
Cleansing is a really big deal. If you pray to God that the leprosy of your heart is removed and it is, you have a great blessing on your hands. In Bible times, the cleansing of leprosy is seen as something only God can do because it was tied to spiritual sin and proves His deity. The same is true for the leprosy of the heart. What do you do with such a great blessing? Jesus tells the cleansed leper in Mark 1:43, “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” When God cleanses us, He doesn’t say that we should go boast about it to everyone. Rather, he wants us to show people that we have been cleansed by our actions. That is not to say that if you have wronged someone that you should not apologize for it. But you should not say, “I’m sorry for this and that, it was wrong of me. Now see how God has cleansed my heart? I prayed to Him and see what He has done? Blahblahblahbragbragbrag.” I believe the correct response would be to say, “I am sorry for this and that, it was wrong of me,” then show them with your actions that God has cleansed you. If they say to you, “What brought about this change?” then you should reply, “God has shown me grace and cleansed my heart.” They will believe you because you have shown them how God has worked in you, and it will become a testimony to them of how mighty God is.
About the thorn in our flesh, I would go so far as to say that everyone has or will have one. When you go to God and say, “If you are willing, you can make me clean,” and He replies, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness,” how are you to respond? The response to this answer to prayer is practically opposite to the response to cleansing. 2 Corinthians 12 talks about how Paul was given great revelations. The thorn in his side was to keep him humble; to not become haughty, but to remember that it was God alone who made him who he was and that it was God alone who provided such wisdom for Paul. So that we do not become haughty, conceited, too proud, or exulted above measure, we must delight in our weaknesses (verse 9-10). Rather, delight in them and boast about them. Boast about the thorn in your side so that people can see that it is God alone who has provided great and amazing things in this life for you.
