God Did Not Do This To Me: Faith HealsSampel

Make Prayer Your Steering Wheel

The activist Corrie ten Boom once asked, “Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?” Many of us find ourselves remembering to pray when we are in a desperate situation. We hope to touch the heart of God with our passionate, heartfelt prayers. In our brokenness, we often get lost in desperate prayer and lose track of time.

In our season of rest, joy, health, and financial peace, many embrace the “spare tire prayer tactic,” praying a quick minute or two and calling it a day. During this time, we rarely wash our mind with the Word of God or spend time worshipping Him simply for who He is. But we need to make prayer our steering wheel at all times. Without spending a lot of time with God when times are good, how will we know how to reach Him in times of trouble? 

Dealing with something like cancer or another overwhelming challenge is like driving your car in the middle of a fierce storm. Rain beats against the car and strong winds rock it to and fro. Your visibility is limited; you struggle to see the way ahead. You lean forward as close as you can to the steering wheel, hoping for a better view, your grip so tight that your palms are clammy and sweaty. The windshield wipers might be going full speed, but they don’t seem to be helping much.

We need to hang on to that steering wheel when the weather is perfect, too, using prayer to help us journey through life and setting our sights on the kingdom.

As we were going through my husband’s fight with cancer, someone asked Doug how he could pray for healing in others if he himself had a big need. They asked, “Why hasn’t God healed you yet?” and “How can you actually believe that God can heal others?” 

Doug explained, “Our circumstance doesn’t change who God is, but God can change our circumstance. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever! He is more than able and God’s timing is always perfect.” 

There is no doubt that God is in control—and He is still in the healing business. Sometimes, our healing comes on earth; others times, it comes in heaven. 

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