"This pain is my thorn in the flesh - God said no to healing."
How it sounds in your head: Paul had a thorn and God said 'My grace is sufficient.' Maybe this is yours. You've prayed, nothing changed, so maybe this is God's no. Maybe this keeps you humble, dependent, useful. Maybe healed you would become prideful. This pain is actually God's protection from yourself.
"When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 'He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.'"
-- Matthew 8:16-17Religious misinterpretation of 2 Corinthians 12 that turns one apostle's unique situation into a universal excuse for unanswered healing prayer.
You've prayed multiple times and pain remains. Paul's thorn story is in Scripture and people quote it constantly for ongoing struggles. It provides a theological framework that makes sense of why healing hasn't come - maybe God said no for a reason.
Suffered 12 YEARS, spent all she had on physicians, grew worse not better. Didn't accept it as 'her thorn.' Pressed through a crowd, touched Jesus' robe, IMMEDIATELY healed. Jesus said 'your FAITH has made you well' - He praised her persistence, didn't rebuke her for not accepting her condition.
I REFUSE the lie that my pain is my thorn and God said no. IT IS WRITTEN: Jesus 'healed ALL who were sick' - not all except those assigned a thorn. He took my infirmities and bore my sicknesses 2000 years ago at the cross. Paul's one ambiguous thorn doesn't override Jesus healing EVERYONE who came to Him. IT IS WRITTEN: 'Your faith has made you well' - Jesus praised the woman who refused to accept 12 years of bleeding, not rebuked her. The BARAK covenant doesn't include 'assigned thorns' - it includes commanded blessing. If this pain is a messenger of Satan, then IT IS WRITTEN: 'Resist the devil and he will flee' - I don't accept what I'm told to resist.
While you're trying to spiritualize your pain as God's no, Father is running toward you with the same response Jesus gave every sick person who came: YES to healing. He's not assigning you pain to keep you humble - He's the one who healed ALL, not some.