Scripture - Matt. 8:2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Observation - This man with leprosy knew that Jesus was able to heal leprosy. This was certainly one of the staples of His supernatural activity. He was unshaken in his confidence as he approached Jesus. He said, "you can make me clean." He is very much in contrast to to the man requesting healing for his son in Mark 9 who approached Jesus by saying, "But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” I love Jesus response to that statement in v23“‘If you can’?” said Jesus.
This leper also recognized that Jesus had a sovereign will. He was not obligated to heal, and sometimes it was not his desire. You can hear this as he approaches Jesus and says, "If you are willing..." The issue wasn't "could He," but "would He?"
Application - as growing followers of Jesus I think it is important to be well versed in what Jesus can and can't do. It affects how we approach Him with our needs, and allows our requests to be focused. It is also important to approach him with a "sovereignty filter" because not everything we ask for falls within the plan of God. Some very good things we ask for are just not His will, and might even run contrary to His Plan. Peter didn't want Jesus crucified! At first glance, great request. One problem... fulfilling it derails the eternal plan of the Father! Paul asked God to remove a struggle that he was having, a "thorn in the flesh." After requesting three times, God responded with an emphatic "NO." I'll paraphrase, but he went on to say, "Live with the thorn, regardless of how difficult it is, and lean on me to get you through."
A couple of thoughts: 1) Let's not be afraid to ask God to do things that we know are within his character and ability to do and 2) Let's recognize that if for some reason he doesn't respond, He probably has a higher purpose for not answering.
Prayer - Lord, thank you for the lepers words. It helps me to pray more effectively.
