Same old habits and symptoms but no cure

How many of us are guilty of praying the same prayers over and over again, only to fall directly back into the same habit of sin or same pattern of activity? When I think about this I can only come to the conclusion that praying in this fashion is like the story of a sick man.

As a physician, I see people who are sick and have various symptoms of their disease. These symptoms give me real clues that can lead to diagnosing the disease and prescribing a cure. If someone has a rash, fevers, enlarged posterior cervical lymph nodes and elevated liver enzymes they are likely to have an obscure case of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) hepatitis. If the patient doesnt let me examine them and only keeps telling me they have a rash and need a cure, how can I make the right diagnosis and give them the medicine they need? There are a million things that cause a rash. If the patient has asked me for the cure to CMV hepatitis I could have immediately prescribed the cure.

In the spiritual realm, if I struggle with a sin habit and every Sunday and other times I continually confess it, ask for forgiveness and power to overcome it, then shortly thereafter fall right back into it one wonders why? Is God unable or uninterested in healing me? I am telling Him what my symptom is afterall! But what about asking for the cure from the actual disease?

Did we ever think that we are praying amiss? God heal me or deliver me from this rash and all the while He is telling you that the rash is only a symptom of the real problem and you need to be asking Him to cure the disease and not the symptom.

2 Chronicles 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

The real problem is not our sin habit. No, the real problem is the neglect of spending regular time with God in His word and prayer and fellowship. It is our failure to fall before Him and humble ourselves and pray and seek His face. If we do that we have this promise, that he will hear from heaven and heal us and deliver us.

So there you have it. Do you really want to be cured?