Isn't that a fun one. Funny how because we carry a stick or have a guide
dog, we become targets for prayer, and because their are  diabetics,
alcoholics, heart patients, and an entire host of ailments that do not
carry an outward billboard announcing "I have a physical ailment" ,
perhaps even carried by some who themselves feel compelled to pray the
blindness out of us if we "have faith enough", because those ailments
aren't seen, they sneak in and out of the limelight of prayer and
attention of the faith message. In short we are easy picks for those who
wish to exercise  such beleifs. There are some folks I would never  allow
them to pray for me for reasons I'll forgo here, and yet others that if
they said  they are to pray for me everyday until I was healed, I'd open
my door everyday.

This is my own personal opinion. I can appreciate the desire for prayer,
and certainly prayer is a good thing. However we have scriptures that say
things like prayers of a righteous man avail much. So I'd want to be
spiritually comfortable with a person praying for me. Why? Scripture also
tells us to watch whom lays hands upon us, and also gives instruction that
if we are sick, to come before the elders asking for prayer and be healed.
So while I appreciate the thought, I tend to question the motive of the
person. Are they on a spiritual crusade motivated by making themselves
feel better because they have an easy target of someone apparently
stricken in life and doing us a favor by praying for us? Or are they in
line with what God is instructing them to do at that moment. It took
Abraham 20 some years to realize his promised miracle of Isaac. As we live
our day to day life, stopping life until we are healed might be unwise. I
remember listening to a tape of Kenneth Copeland years back and he was
speaking on healing and said that if he were stricken with an ailment,
he'd lock himself in a room with the Bible and not come out until he was
healed. While I agree having that amount of live faith is God's will, I'm
not sure he wants us to stop living until we are realized in bodily
healing. There are reasons I believe why we are as such. Do I believe God
means for us to be as such? I do not think so myself. I believe just as
anything else, he uses it, but I honestly do believe he wants us whole in
body. However we have to be  in line with his will elsewhere too. That is
to say as James says that some do not get what they ask for because they
will use it for wrong reasons. Some yes, do not have faith enough perhaps,
for God to heal and for enough faith to stay with god after the healing is
done. Whatever the reason, and we may or may not know, but there is some
reason why and if we wish to be healed, we just do our best to line up
with his word day to day, live the fullest we can as the people we are
now, and do our best spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically
towards that end, and the rest is up to God.

Brad

on 01:43 PM 8/28/2005, Rhonda said:
Today someone who is new at church asked me the all too familiar question
"Do you believe God can do miracles?" to which I replied "Yes" They then
wanted to pray for my sight! I didn't object,  she prayed, nd then church
was about to start, so she said we could pray again later... later it so
happened that she went with some people and me to eat tacos and nothing
else
was said.  But what do I say if in the future she wants to pray again. I
have thought of saying "My life is God's, so He is free to give me
whatever
He wishes me to have, I have prayed about my sight, made my request known,
and now I can wait on His answer, in the meantime, I'll continue to live
life to the fullest!!
what do yawl think of that?  I don't want to discourage anyone from
praying,
and since she seems to  be lonely and reaching out I  don't want to  hurt
her in any way.

Rhonda