Day 47 - Excuses

Day 47 of my 90 Journey to Experience More and I was given the some excuses for not wanting to receive prayer for healing.  Today I spent about 3 hours looking for people at the mall; a produce market; and even Wal-Mart but was only able to approached 6 people who had an obvious need of healing.  All needed healing; two did not want prayer; and no outward signs of healing took place.  

I have heard a lot of excuses to not receive prayer.  Today was not any different when I received two excuses.  One allowed me to prayer but didn't really expect to be healed because of her age.  Another did not want prayer and gave an excuse that I have heard before - I don't have time.  Read on to find out more about the some of the excuses people have to not want healing. . .

The first excuse I receive happened at the produce market when I talked with an older lady who was in an electric wheel chair.  She responded positively to my request to prayer for her healing but when I asked what I could pray for she hesitated and gave her excuse that she was too old.  She said, “You don’t have to pray for my healing. I’m 84 years old and everything’s going bad because of my age.”  As if to say at a certain age we need to put up with our body degrading and getting worse.  After all everyone has to die sometime.

At what age does God stop healing people or does age matter when it comes to whether God wants to heal.  There have been confirmed stories of seventy, eighty, ninety, and those over one hundred being healed of various life threatening and crippling diseases.  So why does God heal some who are older and it seems that most older people don’t get healed.  Maybe it has more to do with the person than a God who wants to heal everyone no matter what the age.  I would think that the reference in scripture, “by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24, NKJV) does not have an age limit.

My guess is that a lot of people who reach a certain age stop believing that they can be healed because that eventually they have to die and their body is just wearing away.  Jesus never told us to stop believing in Him that gives life and that more abundantly.  He healed everyone that came to Him and never told anyone they were too old to be healed. 

I heard of an older man in Africa who was over 100 years old who received healing of his arthritis and was dancing for joy.  Maybe the only thing that might stop a lot of seniors from being healed is their lack of belief that God wants to heal them even at their age.  I know that it is appointed unto man once to die (Heb. 9:27) but why can’t we live to be a ripe old age of 120 years.  Who told us that we should only expect to live 70 or 80 years? - Just something to think about.

The second excuse happened at the mall when I saw a young lady who was using a cane to help her walk.  When I asked if I could pray for her healing she said, “I don’t have time.”   I blessed her and she walked away.  I have heard this excuse many times.  It doesn't take that long to say, “Be healed in Jesus name?”  They probably didn't mean that they don’t have the time.  They were most likely being polite and didn't have the time to go through something that they didn't believe in the first place.

Both excuses are born out of unbelief.  If both of these people knew that God wanted to heal them right now they most likely would not have any excuses but would jump at the chance to be healed.  I pray that God would give me words of knowledge to increase their faith and break down the walls of deception and unbelief.  Give me more Lord.  Guide me Holy Spirit to know where to go, what to do, and what to say.  That I would walk and talk with my Father all the time and go only where He is going; Do only what He is doing; and Saying only what He is saying. 

I can’t wait to see what my Father is going to show me on the 48^th Day in My Journey to Experience More.  Let me know what you think or send an encouraging word in the comments below.  Come back often to see all the great things God is doing in my journey to experience more of Him.