Objection: David Was Honest Enough to Sing to God About His Sicknesses; We Should Pray “Honest” Prayers Like His Rather Than Saying We’re Healed When Our Bodies Say Otherwise

Part of this is a point worth taking for Christians; we SHOULD be honest with God, realizing that God wants to hear from the YOU who exists NOW, not a future, more perfected, more spiritual version of YOU.  YOU are accepted in the Beloved the way YOU are right now (Ephesians 1:6); God is not waiting for a better version of YOU before He wants to talk with YOU!  So be honest with Him and talk with Him today.  His ears are always open to the prayers of the righteous (Psalm 34:15, 1 Peter 3:12), and you’re the righteous because you’re in Christ. The Psalmist’s instruction to “pour out your heart before Him” is valid today.  (Psalm 62:8: “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.”)  However, you should realize that if your “honest prayer” consists of complaining, then like Asaph, you’ll just end up with an overwhelmed heart and you’ll be worse off (Psalm 77:3).

However, you COULD “admit that you’re sick” without it being a complaint.  Why should you then say that you are healed if you’re honest?

God is ALWAYS honest.  He says in 1 Peter 2:24 that you were physically healed by what Jesus did.  (There is abundant proof elsewhere in this book that the healing discussed is physical, not spiritual.) You’re not being dishonest when you agree with God!

If you just say what you see, you are no better off than the rest of carnal humanity.  You may think you’re being honest by “telling it like it is,” but telling it like it is will not get you set free.  For example, to go around saying that you are an alcoholic, even a recovering alcoholic, is counterproductive, as you are simply affirming something you don’t want (I hope).  Agreeing with God that you are set free by the Son (John 8:36) and taken completely out of Satan’s power (Colossians 1:13) WILL help you.  Saying that you are sick will not get you healed!  According to Romans 10:10, confession is made unto salvation (that word includes physical healing and well-being, not just escaping from hell), so it is your mouth that needs to confess (literally “say the same thing [as]”) what God says.  This means affirming that Christ has healed you.

Well, why didn’t David do that instead?  David did indeed sing about some horrible physical conditions he had.  (The Psalms were lyric sheets for songs; they were the precursor to words shown on an overhead screen so that you would know what to sing, except for the very first line of a song section, which the operator never seems to show on the screen quite in time – though some modern songs have such convoluted melodies, words, accents, beats and crazy vocal ranges, they’re hard to sing anyway even when you see the words, but I digress.)  I hope the answer is obvious.  David WASN’T healed by the stripes of Jesus because Jesus hadn’t taken his sicknesses as punishment for his sins.  He did not have the better covenant that you have.

For those who really get upset at the teaching of “confession” of God’s Word, let me ask you a question.  Would you ever get set free from your sins and born into the kingdom of God by praying the following “honest” prayer?  “Lord, you know that I’m in sin.  Sin has a stranglehold on me.  That’s the truth, God; I’m just being honest and pouring out my heart before you.  I am wicked.  I am unworthy.  I deserve to go to hell.”

That “honest” prayer would still leave you sin-strangled, wicked, unworthy and on your way to hell!  On the other hand, the confession of Jesus as Lord would get you saved.

Likewise, an “honest” prayer about feeling miserable will still leave you feeling miserable.  On the other hand, the confession of Jesus as Healer would get you healed.

If God can call those things that be not as though they were, and you’re supposed to be an imitator of God (Ephesians 5:1), you can also call those things that be not as though they were.  (The Greek word mimetes in Ephesians 5:1 translated follower in the King James Version means to be a follower in the sense of being an imitator, and it is used that way elsewhere.  Almost all other translations, including the NKJV and Young’s Literal Translation, use the word imitator in Ephesians 5:1.)  Your father in the faith (Abraham) did this when he called himself “Father of a Multitude” (which is what Abraham means) when he had not yet had Isaac.  He was still “Honest Abe” because he agreed with God.  God called Gideon a mighty man of valor when he was still a total wimp from all appearances.  God said that He had given Jericho to Joshua while the walls were still standing.  Those statements did not reflect physical reality, yet they were all true statements – not dishonest ones.

If you want to see positive change in your life, tell it like THE BIBLE says it is, not like YOUR SENSES say it is!  You will have a much better life.