Do We Spend More Time Praying to Bring People into Heaven or Keep Them Out?

A friend raised this question in a conversation with me this week. Sounds like a silly thing to ask, right? As Christians, of course we pray for the salvation of unbelievers. We want their destination to be heaven. But then I took some time to consider and unpack this provocative question.

Significant health challenges of one of her family members provided our conversation’s context. With rapidly declining physical and cognitive health, he had expressed a deep desire for the Lord to bring him home. Home, as in heaven.

The Bible is clear that God alone knows and controls the number of our days:

• Job 14:5 – “His days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass.”
• Psalm 39:4 – “O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!”
• Psalm 90:12 – “Teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom.”
• Psalm 139:16 – “In your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
• Luke 12:7 – “Even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Still, it’s easier to quote these verses in theory than it is to watch a loved one suffer or to be in severe pain ourselves.

A Difficult Prayer in Painful Circumstances

So what do we do when someone we love is terminally ill? Do we pray for physical healing, in effect praying for a delay in their graduation to heaven? Or do we pray for them to enter heaven, which can only happen if their life on earth ends? In other words, do we spend more time praying to bring them into heaven or keep them out?

I don’t speak of this lightly. When my husband received a terminal diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, we faced this dilemma. Of course, we initially prayed for physical healing. But as the disease progressed despite treatment, his pain increased exponentially. And while we trusted God’s timing, we found ourselves praying for God’s mercy to allow his suffering to end sooner rather than later. Although I had never imagined praying for the death of my husband, that was exactly what he and I did. He even asked others not to pray for his healing. Instead, he asked for prayer to be able to use his remaining time to share his testimony of faith and trust in the Lord even in the face of death.

Please understand. I am not advocating for euthanasia, which the world also refers to as mercy killing, assisted suicide, assisted death, or death with dignity. Despite the euphemisms, such action is the equivalent of playing God.

Where Does That Leave Us?

Should we pray for healing? Yes! The Bible is filled with examples of prayers for healing. And Jesus healed many during His earthly ministry as a sign of His deity as the Son of God. But there is a difference between asking for healing and demanding healing. God revealed one of His names to His people as Yahweh Rapha, “The Lord Who Heals.”

Yet healing is not limited to our physical condition. God can heal physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. One of the most oft-quoted verses related to healing is Isaiah 53:5, “by his wounds [stripes] we are healed.” However, if we look at the whole verse, we see Isaiah wrote, “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” The context or priority of this single verse—and the entire chapter—is spiritual healing. Specifically, healing from sin and peace with God.

So yes, let’s continue to ask for healing. At the same time, let’s also ask God for the grace and equipping to trust Him for the outcome. He may choose to delay a person’s entrance into heaven for days, weeks, months, or even years. Or He may take them home before we think we are ready. Some deaths are expected, while others are not only unexpected, they were never on anyone’s radar. As I write this, an airplane recently crashed in Miami, killing five people. The twist is that they died while in their cars when the plane overran the runway and struck several vehicles as it crash-landed. Whether by lengthy terminal illness or freak accident, no one knows the number of their days or is guaranteed tomorrow.

Will you and I purpose now to trust God, whatever He allows?

*All verses are taken from the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible.