The prayer of the leper requesting healing from Jesus began with, "Lord, if you will, you can heal me." Reflecting on this Pope Francis says we can use this as our prayer every day. "Lord, if you will, you can heal me; if you will, you can forgive me; if you will,  you can help me." Or, if you want, he said you can make it a little longer. "Lord, I am a sinner, have mercy on me, have compassion on me." This simple prayer can be said many times a day. "Lord, I, a sinner, ask you, have mercy on me:.

The leper's faith was not in Jesus' ability but in his will. Someone has said: "Faith puts the weight on the will of the Lord and never on his ability.: The will of God is for our greater, lasting good, not necessarily our immediate want. Our immediate want may not necessarily lead to our eternal happiness, which is the will of God.

When the paralyzed man was brought to Jesus, his immediate want was physical healing. But Jesus saw a greater, immediate need, his spiritual healing from the paralysis of sin. So Jesus chose to forgive him first then to heal him as a confirmation of the former. Jesus saw the faith of those who brought the man to him. Yet Jesus wanted to teach him and us that there is a greater priority at stake. The physical healing would ease his suffering and  helplessness for a time. But dying unrepentant had eternal consequences. The will of God was primarily and ultimately the man's salvation.