“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:13-14, NIV).

He was a new patient, transferring from the care of another doctor. He had prostate cancer that had been well controlled until one year ago when his wife died, and he decided to quit therapy. He was back now with recurrent disease and willing to treat it, though he would still be happy to join his wife in heaven. I asked him if he was a Christian, and he answered, “I prefer to be called a follower of Christ,”—a distinction I love. As he was leaving, he stopped to tell me, “I’m not surprised all this has happened to me. I remember clearly the moment I was turning a street corner in my car and asked the Lord, ‘Please find a way to humble me, God.’ Then it began. I’m not angry at God, just respect greatly the way He honors our prayers.”

I’m not sure quite what to do with this. God impacted this man’s life in a profound way, in part because of his sincere request to be more like Jesus.

I cannot within the context of the Bible believe God caused his cancer and killed his wife because of his prayer. However, I do believe God honored his prayer in a profound way. My best guess would be God used the tragedy in my patient’s life to accomplish his sincere desire for humility. God never wastes our pain.

Nevertheless, I may be way off base in sorting out the mind of God, though God is speaking to me through this encounter. What is God demonstrating for us through this experience, this interaction between my patient and the Creator of the Universe who bent down to honor his prayer?

1. God listens. Do we know how truly amazing that is?
2. God’s greatest work in us involves change—change in direction and change in character—direction toward salvation, direction toward mission, and character change to become more like Jesus.
3. Most of the important change in our lives comes through times of struggle. Oswald Chambers spoke the truth, “There is no change without friction.”
4. God will always enter our struggles to fashion something good.
5. However God chooses to change us, He does so with profound love, both for us and for those effected by the change He brings to our lives.
6. And, as my patient shared, we need to deeply respect the way God honors our prayers. If we pray to be more like Jesus, God will do what it takes to get us there.

Dear Father,

Change me to be more like Jesus, whatever it takes.

Amen