His Willingness, His Will, My Prayer.

By Danny Saavedra

“When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.’ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, ‘See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’”—Matthew 8:1–4 (NIV)

Have you ever asked someone to do something for you? In today’s passage, a man asks Jesus if He would do something for him: “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

This man with leprosy, a disease that made him a complete outcast, someone everyone actively avoided, comes up to Jesus and kneels. Why does he kneel? Because he recognized who it is that is standing before him. It’s the King of kings and Lord of lords, God in the flesh, God with us. He doesn’t demand Jesus heal him. He doesn’t negotiate with the Lord; he doesn’t even beg. Instead, he says, “If you are willing . . .”

My friends, let’s not let the significance of how this man approached the Lord pass us by. What does this request feel like to you? It’s essentially a prayer! It reminds me of Esther before Xerxes in Esther 8:1–6 (NIV). Look at how she approached the king:

“If it pleases the king . . .”

“If he regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing to do . . .”

“If he is pleased with me . . .”

What if we approach the Lord like this? What if we say in everything we pray, “Lord, if You are willing . . .”? What if every time we came before the King, we ask for His kingdom to come and His will to be done in our lives, in our burdens and battles, in our sickness and sadness, in our doubts and decisions?

Imagine if we say, “Lord, if You are willing, _______,” as we remember the biblical promises such as, “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13 NIV), and “If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1 John 5:14 NIV). But then, friends, as Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, WE MUST BE WILLING to say, “Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39 NIV).

Now, look with me at Jesus’ response: “I am willing. . . . Be clean!” Jesus then tells the man not to tell anyone and instead go directly to the priest to make a sacrifice.

This passage is often misunderstood. The implication isn’t to never tell anyone, but instead to go directly to the priest and obey the commandment of God in Leviticus 14:2–4.

Now, the man would’ve been around 50 miles away from Jerusalem, so Jesus is telling him to go straight there first to “obtain his (the priest’s) sanction to the reality of the cure” (Barnes Commentary) and then testify to all the people—after receiving the priestly acknowledgment—of what God had done.

So, as we seek to live in accordance with His will and way, He will be faithful to reveal His will to us. Then, as we pray according to His will, we’ll receive what we ask. And let me tell you, there’s never anything you could ask for according to your will that will be better, more life-giving, beneficial, and fulfilling than what you ask for and receive according to His will, because as Paul says in Philippians 2:13 (NIV), “For it is God who works in you to will and to act to fulfill his good purpose.”

Pause: What can we learn from this man regarding how we approach the Lord?

Practice: Add “Lord, if You are willing” into all your prayer time!

Pray: Father, I thank You first and foremost that You were willing to send Your Son to save me and redeem me, to pay the penalty for my sins, and to heal me spiritually for all eternity. Today, I pray that in everything, Your will and kingdom would be advanced through my life. Amen.