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The story of the Ten Lepers teaches us how to approach the Lord and interact with Him. The lepers were introduced as a group of men who shouted from afar, asking Jesus to heal them of their ailment (Luke 17:13). Jesus gave them a simple instruction. He told them to go show themselves to the priests. This was part of the Laws of Moses, which required those healed from leprosy to present themselves to a priest who would then carry out certain offerings to the Lord (Leviticus 14).
Well, as the men obeyed Jesus, they saw that indeed, they'd been healed. One of them returned. He praised God loudly, then threw himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked Him, too. Luke 17:19 - Then He said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” This one man who came back got an additional blessing - he was made well in every sense of the word.
What faith was Jesus talking about, however? Surely it wasn't the faith to ask for healing from leprosy. Nor was it the faith displayed when the group of lepers obeyed Christ's instruction to go to the priests. The reward for these displays of faith was the healing of their skin from leprosy.
The faith Jesus referred to here was the praise this man, a non-Jew and Samaritan, raised to the Lord. It was done with a loud voice and thus without shame or fear of embarrassment. The man's praise was also physical. He prostrated on the floor at Jesus' feet, showing gratitude for the miracle. with his body, he replicated what his heart and mouth were doing in expressing honor and praise to the Lord.
Let us all learn from this leper. Our praise reflects our faith in the Lord and is a way to put it to work. When genuine and offered freely with zeal, God can't keep still. He has to give us more than what we'd originally requested. Leprosy was a death sentence and had no cure. Under the Laws of Moses, lepers had to keep apart from the healthy, and they often died impoverished and alone, separate from their loved ones. The one leper who returned asked for his skin to be healed, but Jesus made him whole.
God wants to do the same for us all. However, we have to be like the Samaritan leper who gave God effusive praise and thanksgiving. And we must be prepared to go beyond that. What if we don't wait for the fulfillment of our prayers to happen before we give God His due worship? Also, how about praising God regardless of the situation (1 Thessalonians 5:18)? This instruction is all over the Bible. We can no longer ignore that we are told to rejoice in God always (1 Thessalonians 5:16) and "make a joyful noise to the LORD" (Psalm 100:1).
We can all choose to do things differently from now on. We can look at the troubles in our lives and, despite them, open our mouths to give thanks to the Lord. We can choose to turn our prayers into praise points instead. We can approach God by first applying the protocol laid out in Psalm 100:4, which says to enter God's presence with thanks and praises.
I have a list of praises that I use to exalt God, no matter the circumstances. It is especially helpful when things are tough. The Lord helps me when I gear up to grumble, reminding me to follow the Psalm 100:4 protocol. As I apply this approach, I tend to gain a new perspective on what I came to talk to God about. And suddenly the troubles of the world don't pinch the way they used to.
Remember, it is those who have faith who can praise God because our praise is an expression of our faith. And faith is spiritual currency that never loses its value. We need to approach God with faithful praise. Worshipping in spirit and truth. May we who believe in Christ and His Father, God, always be like the leper who returned with thanks on His lips for the Lord. May our praises and thanks produce physical worship - our bodies glorifying God. And may our Father go beyond in answering our original prayers. May He make us whole in every sense of that word, by His grace and to His glory, IJMN Amen.
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