Naaman is one of the most intriguing stories in the Old Testament. We are told in 2 Kings 5 that Naaman was the commander of the army of the king of Aram. Aram was an enemy of Israel who raided Israel from time to time. One of the interesting statements in this texts is, “He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him, the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier but he had leprosy.”

First of all, it is interesting that God gave this man victories. We may assume that some of those were against Israel. Many of us think that God only worked through men and women of Israel, but there are several references in the Old Testament where God used gentiles and foreign kings for his purposes. At times he used them to discipline Israel, after Israel turned its back on God and worshipped idols.

In this story, we are told that he had taken a young girl from Israel in one of his raids and that she had become a household slave. She apparently was treated well because she had concern for Naaman and his condition. She told her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy!” Naaman’s wife apparently told him about the prophet and Naaman, perhaps out of desperation, told his king about the possibility of his leprosy being healed. The king blessed his venture and so Naaman set out to visit Elisha.

Being a great man, he took with him a significant amount of treasure with which to buy his healing. According to the text, he took 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of expensive clothing. At first glance, we might assume that he was going to honor the prophet with all of this, but perhaps, it was to display what a great man he was and to impress the prophet. In his world, great men only did favors for other great men, so he wanted to make a statement that he was certainly worthy of this healing he was seeking.

The text continues to say this about Naaman’s arrival. “So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, ‘Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.’ But Naaman went away angry and said, ‘I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?’ So he turned and went off in a rage” (2 Kings 5:9-12).

I’m sure his arrival was impressive with his horses and chariots with him and his men dressed in their most impressive uniforms. Clearly, he anticipated that the great prophet would come out to meet him and acknowledge his name and fame and treat him with great respect and a touch of awe. Instead, he only sent out his servant. Even by our standards that would be rude, but in the light of mid-eastern hospitality in that day, it was an insult. You only sent servants to people you felt were beneath you.

On top of that, the servant told him to go dip in the Jordan River seven times, which was often muddy and probably smelled. And why seven times? What was the sense in that? Why not once? We are told that his response was rage. He had anticipated a grand moment when an impressive prophet would come to him, call on the namer of his God, the clouds would part, the sun would shine, and the prophet would wave his hand over the leprous spot and he would be healed. It did not happen that way, although healing was still offered to him. I take two lessons from this for us.

First of all, there are times when we have preconceptions about how God will answer our prayers that set us up for failure. We had a Healing and Prophetic Conference a week ago at our church. Clearly, many came hoping to be healed at the conference. As our speaker asked who had received healing after our healing prayers, many raised their hands. Not all, however, received healing in the moment. I’m confident that some of that number simply gave up on God’s supernatural healing because they had not experienced healing that evening.

Many came hoping to experience God’s healing in a dramatic and undeniable way. When that didn’t happen for them they went away disappointed and discouraged. However, much of God’s healing is not instantaneous, but is a process that bears healing in due time…if we do not give up believing. Our preconceptions, like Naaman can cause us to miss what God is actually willing to do.

I was a singles minister for a number of years, so I heard the bitter laments of many singles who wanted to be married but had not yet found the “right” person. Many single women told me that they were crying out for a good husband, but God was not answering their prayers! They felt cheated. However, after further discussion, they had already defined what a “good husband” looked like…tall, handsome, athletic, with a great job, a great sense of humor, and very spiritual.” Upon further discussion, I would also discover that some very fine men had asked them out, but they had not met the woman’s criteria and so she never gave them a chance. These women were asking for a good car but were imagining a Porche. God was sending them a more reliable Ford, but a Ford was not what they had in mind. So they rejected the answer to prayer for a good man and stayed single…and bitter.

Sometimes we miss an answer to prayer because we have decided on what that answer should look like and we are not willing to consider or receive the answer in any other form.

Secondly, God does not like to reinforce pride and arrogance. Naaman came to Elisha believing he would be healed because of his rank and reputation. However, only a servant came to meet him and then directed him to the Jordan. His pride almost cost him his healing. God responds to the humble, not the arrogant. If we feel like God owes us anything, we will probably not receive it. Most of the things we pray for should be seen as gifts of God’s grace, not what he owes us because we have done this or that or because we tithe or because we shared our faith once. If we try to persuade God that we are worthy of his attention and favor, we may not get very far. If we pray for something on the basis of his goodness, his love, and his purposes for our life, we will likely see those prayers answered.

Fortunately, Naaman’s servant had a good word for him. In essence, he said, “Hey, if he had asked you to go do something great – like go slay the dragon – would you not have done so? But he asked you to do something simple, so what have you got to lose? You have leprosy you know!” Naaman then humbled himself and went to the Jordan. When he had dipped himself seven times he was healed. There was no healing power in the Jordan. But there was healing power released from heaven to someone who humbled himself before God and did it God’s way. As we pray and believe, we may want to remember Naaman and simply be humbled and open to how God will answer our prayers because he loves us and how he answers our prayers is an expression of that love.