Do you ever feel like your prayers drift off into outerspace where no one is paying attention. Sometimes that’s how I’ve felt about my prayers for the healing of an ongoing physical issue. Silence. Just when I think it’s getting better and the symptoms are subsiding, it comes back. This has been going on for more than six months. But a few weeks ago, I felt like I had a prayer breakthrough. And, it’s given me much to think about. Hopefully this insight will benefit you as well.

Longing for Relief

In case you didn’t read my previous post, the symptoms of stasis dermatitis have been horrible. Some nights, while trying to fall asleep, painful itching almost drove me crazy! So I’d pray and the next night I’d lie awake and wonder why God didn’t answer my prayers.

In June, it started improving. In July the symptoms got worse. It felt as though something was burning from inside my leg. In August I thought maybe I needed to change doctors, but then something inside of me changed. And, maybe it was because I changed the way I was praying.

Underlying Causes

One day during prayer, I started hearing the lyrics to a song. I don’t know all of them (and they’re really not the point) but over and over again the phrase “from the inside out”  played inside my mind. And, I realized I’d been asking God to relieve my symptoms without asking Him to heal me from the problem that initiated them from inside of me.  It’s peculiar how God will do that–take a lyric, a phrase, or a verse and speak truth to our minds illuminating the brilliance of His concepts in ways we can grasp.

Listening for His voice instead of focusing on my fears and doubts helps me comprehend knowledge that otherwise eludes me. This time, I realized that symptoms generally result from an underlying cause. I beat that drum often in the fight against human trafficking. If we don’t deal with things like the hypersexualization of our culture, we will never stop the increasing demand for sex slaves. If we don’t meet the needs of foster care kids and how they crave the love of a father, traffickers will prey upon their feelings by saying “I’ll be your daddy.” If we don’t stop the demand for porn, the demand for younger children and more violence will continue to increase.

For many problems, whether personal or cultural, we have to find the fundamental causes to figure out the best solutions. That got me wondering about a whole host of issues.

Solving Problems from the Inside Out

What aggravating symptoms command our attention in ways that prevent us from finding solutions for the root causes?

• The political divide. Instead of trying to force others to change to our viewpoint, we need to get rid of our own bitterness and listen to differing perspectives with respect and a willingness to learn. Then we might attempt to work together to bring about unity.
• Money problems. The real issue likely involves spending way more than we should. That’s true on a personal level as well as a federal or state level.
• Relationship trouble. Forgiving those who hurt us and being kind might help people want to be around us enough to communicate until hurts are forgiven and resolved.
• Addictions. Over-eating, substance abuse, gambling, compulsive shopping may stem from internal angst. Exposing the lies that those behaviors offer comfort and staying in the truth about their real results can go a long way toward recovery.

Instead of thinking we have all the answers, we could apply James 1:19-20. “Be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” By letting go of anger at others that disagree with us, we might be able to work together to relieve the internal issues that produce undesirable symptoms.

What are you struggling with that may have underlying causes worth exploring?

Imagine how much better life could be if we prayed about and worked on our own internal thinking instead of being so quick to complain about the symptoms. Maybe asking God to identify the real problems and working toward solutions would heal us from the inside out–one person at a time.