Is He Willing?

Is He Willing?

Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” Mark 1:41

WE USUALLY CARRY two big ifs into our prayers—if God can and if God will. The former is answered easily enough; we know God can do anything. But the latter isn’t so simple. God has given us confidence for those times we are praying according to his will (1 John 5:14-15), and Jesus gave us the supreme example of praying for God’s will instead of our own (Luke 22:42). His instructions to pray for God’s will to be done (Matthew 6:10) then become an ever-present question in the back of our minds. Am I praying according to God’s will? If we aren’t sure that we are, we may feel as though our prayer won’t matter and lose heart.

But God’s will is much broader than most of us think. He has generous plans for our lives, and he allows for our desires to blend with his purposes. Jesus told his friends to pray for “anything you want” (John 15:7) because he knew their desires would overlap with his. A well-known psalm assures us that those who delight in God can have the desires of their hearts, which are both given and fulfilled by him (Psalm 37:4). God is not bent on pigeonholing us into a narrowly defined plan, refusing to answer any prayer until it hits the exact center of his purposes. He already knows how to weave our mistakes into his overall plan, and he does the same with our desires. He is willing to inspire them, shape them, or even accommodate them to fit his work in this world.

A concerned father asked Jesus to help, “if you can” (Mark 9:22). Of course he could! Jesus said that “if” is not even a question. But a leper said, “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.” (Mark 1:40). Jesus gave the same positive response. Yes, he is willing. That question is settled too. He demonstrated throughout his ministry that he was willing, never turning away a request to heal, deliver, or save. He invites us to come to him, fully aware of his generous heart, and ask.

God never made a promise that was too good to be true.