PRAYER — The Ace Up Your Sleeve

by Paula Black

When I was told I had terminal cancer, prayer stopped being something I believed in — and became something I depended on.

There are moments in life when fear is loud. When the challenge feels too heavy. When your future suddenly seems uncertain. And in those moments, many people don’t know what to pray — or even if prayer still works.

I want you to know this from my own journey: prayer is the ace up your sleeve.

I didn’t overcome cancer by panicking. I didn’t overcome it by will power. And I didn’t overcome it by passively waiting for someone else to fix me.

I learned how to pray with faith — and that changed everything.

Faith is acting on what you believe. So I read the Bible… promise after promise, until I was absolutely convinced that God had paid for my healing.

Then I acted on that belief. I said that I was "the healed” every day out loud. I acted as if I was healed, as much as I was able to. I chose not to consider myself a patient or a victim or sick. Because I WAS HEALED… in Jesus name! I built my faith up everyday and sometimes several times a day, because fear hounded me with symptoms, reports or something someone said.

Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith must always be alive in the present to be active, powerful and overcoming. You can’t borrow yesterday’s faith or the faith from another victory. Faith only lives in the NOW.

Many believers hold this “ace,” of prayer, yet never truly use it. Not because they don’t love God, but because they don’t understand the authority prayer carries when it’s joined with faith.

Prayer is not a desperate cry into the darkness. It is a living conversation with your Creator… your Healer… and your closest Friend. When you pray and offer praise and thanksgiving, you are doing two things at the same time: communicating that you believe God’s Word is true, and exercising faith.

If you believe God heard your prayer, you shouldn't keep pleading with God, day after day. Once you have made your request and are confident that you have prayed in agreement with God’s Word, let your prayer become thanksgiving in expectation and praise.

Faith is different than hope.

Hope says, I wish.

Faith says, I believe — so I will speak and act on what I believe.

Jesus said:

“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”— Mark 11:24

When I was facing cancer, this Scripture became real to me. I had to choose whether I would pray from fear — or pray from faith.

Faith does not deny the diagnosis. Faith simply refuses to let the diagnosis have the final word. The diagnosis must bow to God’s word if you remain in faith, in time it will.

That’s why Hebrews 11:1 tells us that with faith, the invisible becomes visible AFTER faith has run its course.

Learning God’s Will During Illness

God has already established His will concerning life and health. His heart is not confusion, fear, or destruction. His will is revealed through His Word and through the life of Jesus.

Yet many people battling cancer ask, “Is it God’s will for me to be sick?”

That question haunted me at first too.

But the more I studied the Bible — and the more I looked at the ministry of Jesus — the clearer God’s will became.

Jesus never turned anyone away who came to Him for healing.

Not once.

We learn God’s will by studying the life of Christ. He showed us what heaven looks like when it touches earth. There is no sickness in heaven where God’s will reigns.

That is why Jesus taught His disciples how to pray — not casually, but intentionally.

He said:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”— Matthew 6:9–13

Many of us know these words by heart, but few realize what they truly mean.

Jesus was teaching us how to bring heaven’s reality into our earthly situation — including sickness.

When Heaven Touches the Body

Notice Jesus said to pray that God’s will would be done on earth as it is in heaven.

There is no cancer in heaven. There is no disease in heaven. There is no fear in heaven.

So how does that reality of wholeness and health begin to show up here?

Through prayers of faith.

When Jesus sent His disciples out, He told them:

“And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”— Luke 10:9

Healing wasn’t separate from the message — it was part of it.

Later, Scripture tells us:

“Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.”— Luke 9:1–2

Jesus delegated authority to His followers — not just for that moment, but for life on this earth.

As believers, we are not powerless. We are not abandoned. And we are not meant to live in fear.

Prayer, when joined with faith, opens the channel between heaven and earth — even in the middle of a cancer battle.

Prayer Is Not Begging God

One of the most important things I learned during my healing journey is this:

Prayer is not pleading with God to do something He doesn’t want to do.

Prayer is not trying to convince Him.

Prayer is agreeing with what He already desires and has already made available.

God is not withholding healing — He is inviting faith so you can receive it.

When I began praying in agreement with God’s will — instead of praying from fear — peace replaced panic. Strength replaced despair. And hope became anchored in truth.

Whether you are currently facing cancer, have walked through it in the past, or want to protect your health moving forward, prayer is not optional.

It is foundational.

Give God the best part of your day. Talk with Him honestly. Read His Word slowly. Let truth replace fear.

Keep God on the throne of your life — not just in crisis, but daily.

Prayer truly is the ace up your sleeve.

And no matter where you are in your journey today, I want you to know this:

You are not alone.

You are not without hope.

And with God — nothing is impossible.

Standing in faith with you,

Paula