What to pray when you have cancer I

I recently led a small group bible study in which we reflected on the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13).  One of the things that struck me about the prayer which Jesus taught us to pray is that it does not have any qualifications attached to it.  For example he doesn't say "Pray like this, except when you have cancer or except when you feel depressed or except when you have a bad spouse or except when you've lost your job or...., you fill in the blank.  In this prayer Jesus is telling us the things that God wants to do for us.  His word to us is this: Here is what my heavenly Father wants to do for you, so ask him to these things.  A further implication is this: what this prayer teaches us is what we ought to want.  We should compare the things we pray for with this prayer and whatever we want God to do that does not fit with or in any of these petitions should not be asked as whatever it is you are asking is not God's will, it does not fit with prayer offered in the name of Jesus.

Another implication of this prayer is that no one can honestly pray it unless he or she has been born again by God's Spirit.  The only people who want all the things Jesus commands us to pray are those whom God has given new hearts to, taken out their hearts of stone and put his Spirit in them to cause them to love and live his will.  Just think about the first petition: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name."  That is a prayer that first of all assumes that the person praying is a member of the church of Jesus as the "our" refers to the church, the company of people who have been rescued from hell and for God by God's grace through faith.  If a person has not been born again, saved by grace through faith, then they are the enemies of God and of God's church (Romans 3:9-18, 5:10, 8:7-8, John 15:18-21, 16:2-3).  Thus they would never truly, from the heart call God "our" Father.  Thus also, they would never pray that God's name be treated as holy, as glorious.  Non-believers hate God and would never want his fame to grow, would never want him to be admired and respected and loved by more and more humans.

Expecting a non-believer to pray that our Father's name be treated as holy would be like expecting a family member of one of those killed in the 9/11 attacks to start a fan club for Osama bin Laden and work hard to get the US government to pardon him and welcome him into the US with a ticker tape parade and to distribute public service announcements highlighting what a good man he was and how we ought to love him and respect and put his picture in all our homes.  Thus the only people who can honestly pray this prayer are those who have been given new hearts by God, contrary to what they deserve and therefore these regenerated people now trust and love God and so want what God wants and so they ask God to do the things he has told us in the Lord's prayer that he wants to do.

As I pointed out the first thing Jesus wants us to ask the Father to do is pray that his name, his person be regarded and treated as if he is the only absolutely unique, sovereign, just, gracious king of the universe.  As God says repeatedly throughout the Bible, his ultimate purpose in all that he does is the glory of his own name (Isaiah 43:6-7, 48:10-11, Ezekiel 36:20-27, etc.).  His aim to is to show his glory and thus be glorified by all of creation.  As Dr. John Piper, following the great theologians of the church's history, demonstrates, "God is most glorified by us when we are most satisfied in him" (I would highly recommend that every Christian read Piper's two basic works, "Desiring God" and "The Pleasures of God".  His other books are also very helpful.). 

God's objective is to persuade us that he is all we need because he is the best being in the universe.  This is what we are asking God to do in his world, to show off his greatness in such a way that more and more people see his greatness, chiefly as it is revealed in the gospel of Jesus and thus trust and love and desire and rejoice in him alone.  We are also praying for ourselves and all who belong to the church to discover the sufficiency and beauty of the Triune God in deeper ways so that our lives show that he is glorious, he is all we need.

Thus a person who has cancer, or is undergoing any kind of suffering needs to pray this first petition.  I need to pray that in and through this cancer Jesus would become more glorious to me and that through me others would see the greatness of Father, Son and Spirit and thus desire him for themselves.  Over the next several days, as I have strength, I will write about what we are to pray in each of the other petitions so that all of us, whether we have cancer or are healthy will be asking God to do his will which he has clearly described for us in the Lord's Prayer.