PART 3.
KNOWING THE PERFECT WILL OF GOD
Studying the Bible, we can see that as a rule, the Lord is the One who decides how to deal with people no matter what kind of problems they have. I say as a rule as there are exceptions, when people through supernatural faith suggest God what they themselves prefer. For example, Joshua stopped the sun when he cried out to God in faith. “Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel: ‘Sun, stand still over Gibeon; and Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.’ So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the people had revenge upon their enemies… So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel.” (Jos. 10:12-14).
“And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed’… But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel’… ‘It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.’ And she said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus answered and said to her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed from that very hour” (Mt. 15:22-28).
The Canaanite woman was not offended at the words of Jesus and received healing for her daughter, even though Jesus resolved to help “the lost sheep of the house of Israel’ only.
These are exceptional cases; as a rule, it is the Lord Who decides how to answer a prayer of faith.
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6). However, there are necessary prerequisites and conditions, and if a person lacks these, even faith cannot save them. In this chapter, I want to address obedience as a necessary condition. I will use an example from the Bible to clarify my point. Naaman, a Syrian commander, who had leprosy, listened to the little Hebrew girl who lived in his house and believed in the mighty God of Israel. He took a letter from his king and made his way to Israel. “Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha’s house” (2 Kgs. 5:9).
What happened when he was told that to get his healing, he had to dip himself in the Jordan River seven times? “But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, ‘Indeed, I said to myself, ‘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 heal the leprosy’’” (2 Kgs. 5:11). Naaman believed in healing power of the God of Israel, but had his own way to receive healing. Nevertheless, Jehovah God had another way for him. Naaman was healed when he walked in the way of the Lord. “So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” (2 Kgs. 5:14).
In the New Testament, there is an instance when Jesus heals a person making mud from saliva. “When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing” (Jn. 9:6-7).
In another instance, Jesus said that besides having faith as a mustard seed, one needs fasting and prayer to solve their problem. “Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting’” (Mt. 17:19-21).
Jesus did nothing of Himself. “Then Jesus said to them, ‘When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. 29 And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him’” (Jn. 8:28-29).
Years ago, I had a serious health issue with my thyroid gland. From the very beginning, when this appeared, I prayed and asked the Lord to heal me. I knew that the Lord had different ways to give healing, so I wanted to find out which of them He chose for solving my problem: would it be a medical operation or supernatural healing without a surgical procedure? To tell the truth, back then I thought that operations could not be a part of divine healing, as they took place through intervention of medical doctors, not through a miracle from God.
During my prayer, the Holy Spirit spoke, “I will heal you…” That response pleased me so much that I stood up from kneeling and thanked God that He would heal me. According to my interpretation, I had no need for surgical intervention. I did not even allow a thought that He had not finished His sentence, as I wanted to hear that and nothing more.
Some of my godly friends were also sure that I would be healed supernaturally. They used to say, “You serve God for years; why should you be operated? The Lord will heal you.” They laid their hands on me and prayed at opportune and inopportune times, but seeing that the tumor continued to grow, they concluded that I had no faith. They thought the reason I still had the disease was unbelief, while in fact my faith was stronger than ever. For ten years, I waited for my healing in faith. I had read many books on faith and heard testimonies of hundreds of people who received their healing supernaturally. For one and half year, each morning I took a book of T.L. Osborn, read the testimonies of people who received healing miraculously and confessed Scriptures for my healing. I waited for a miracle every day.
So many anointed ministers prayed for my healing! One time, an interesting incident took place. A famous healing minister came to Yerevan. I was told that it was impossible not to receive a miracle after his prayer. When his sermon was over and he made an altar call for those who needed healing, I hurried forward with certainty that I would be healed. When it was my turn to receive prayer, I stood with closed eyes and already imagined how the tumor on my throat would disappear; I saw myself wearing new dresses without having to conceal my neck somehow.
The minister prayed for me, and then approached to the woman who stood next to me, who also had a thyroid gland issue; one could see quite a big tumor on her throat. After the minister prayed, her tumor disappeared before my very eyes. She received complete healing, and I returned to my seat in perplexity, without receiving healing.
I wondered very much about that incident, but I still stood strong in faith for a miracle. I continued to believe in the supernatural power of the Lord and was sure that He was almighty and faithful.
Already 12 years passed from the time when I prayed and received a word from the Lord that He would heal me. I understood it as a healing without any medical intervention. The tumor continued to grow, and my health conditions were getting worse. Two persons who live in different places saw prophetic dreams that I would die. Another person with the gift of prophecy told me a word from God: “See a doctor and undergo full medical examination”. All the three were respected people, but since I was sure I would be healed without any surgery, I paid no attention to their words.
In a short while, a minister, whom I hold in high respect, told me very strictly that if I did not see a doctor, he would have to take me himself. I came home and decided to fast the next day to receive confirmation from the Lord. I did as I decided; I went to my room and declared, “I will not leave this room until the Lord speaks.” I started to pray and said to the Lord, “Lord, years ago when I came before You with this request, You spoke to me and said that You would heal me. I am sure that You will heal me without any medical intervention. However, please speak again and confirm what You told me years ago, so that I will not have to undergo medical examination”.
I was praying and waiting. Seeing that the Lord didn’t answer, I thought I am in a spiritual wilderness. I started to look for books on spiritual wilderness in my library. I had scarcely taken the book by John Bevere on the subject of wilderness, when the Holy Spirit spoke, “You are not in a wilderness”. I sat down confused. I did not know what to do. I knelt and waited in silence. Some time passed, and the Holy Spirit spoke with softness natural to Him, “Worship!” I started to worship the Lord of lords. I worshipped until the evening, staying in my room all the time. It was 9 p.m. in the evening, when the Holy Spirit spoke again, “Come out of the room and have a meal.” What did it mean? Was it the end of my fast? And where was the answer? In His intonation, there was so much softness and love, but I did not receive the answer I anticipated.
After having a meal, I returned to my room to continue praying, but I understood that it was over. I was concerned about what I would say to that minister. Then I decided that I would continue to postpone the medical examination as the Lord said nothing to me. Appeased, I went to bed.
I woke up in the night. The clock showed 2 a.m. Suddenly I started to recite a passage from the Bible. It came so strongly, that I said it aloud. Until that day and from that day on, I was never able to memorize any portion of the Bible. However, I said by heart the story of Hezekiah’s illness, Prophet Isaiah’s visit to him and Hezekiah’s words.
After I repeated it aloud several times, I went out of my bedroom and took my Bible. I found that passage and started to read. It is written in 2 Kings 20:1-7. While reading, the lines “I will heal you” and “‘Take a lump of figs.’ So they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered” hit my heart.
“I will heal you…” I received this word around 12 years ago, when I asked the Lord to give me a word for my healing. I heard it in prayer, but then, without waiting for Him to continue, I promptly finished my prayer and concluded that the Lord would heal me supernaturally. That night I received the same word again, with the continuation that I had missed: “‘Take a lump of figs.’ So they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered”.
The Holy Spirit started speaking to me, “I heard the prayer of king Hezekiah and answered him, ‘I will heal you’, and he received healing by placing a lump of dried figs on his wound. In your case, healing will come through a medical operation.” Again, I was confused. I did not know whether to rejoice because the Lord spoke and I would finally receive my healing, or to be sad. For so many years, I used to believe, confess and assure everyone that the Lord would heal me through a supernatural miracle, without any medical intervention; and now, I needed to obey the Word of the Lord and receive my healing through a medical operation.
When the morning came, I went for a medical examination. The results showed that I needed to be operated. The doctors said that the operation would not be difficult and would last for 2-2.5 hours, no longer.
However, the operation lasted for 5 hours and 30 minutes. The ultrasound examination had now shown that my breastbone was covered with nodes and my condition was severe. Praise the Lord that the operation was successful!
In some days, when I was finally at home, I asked the Lord about my situation; I wanted to know so badly the reason He chose that way to give me healing. The answer shocked me. The Lord showed that in my ministry, so many people asked me for money to pay for medications and medical services, and I denied their requests, thinking that medical intervention is not the will of God. The Lord healed supernaturally, I thought, they only needed to believe. I blamed those people thinking they had no faith and they tried to make me spend the funds of the Mercy Ministry in a wrong way.
The Lord showed me through the Holy Spirit that miracles are manifested in various ways, and medical intervention is one of them. If it were not the wisdom of God given to people, how could they invent medications, perform operations and cure people? Of course, we must remember that medical science is limited, and what is impossible for man is possible for the Lord. The Lord also showed that besides believing, one needs to know His perfect will. In my case, it was medical intervention.
“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Mt. 6:9-10). People pray this almost every day, but at times, they do not think that to find out His perfect will, they need to assign time and retire to their prayer closets.
It is for the benefit of men that the Lord chooses various ways; He does this to save them from the attacks of the devil. “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (Jn. 15:7). “…if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him” (Jn. 9:31). The Lord always hears the prayer of FAITH, which is done ACCORDING TO HIS WILL.