This is a long read, it’s 2 ½  pages long.  It’s Just some people’s thoughts on “Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh”  

Those people are:  Barry Bennett, Kenneth  Copeland, and Andrew Wommack. 

Here is what they ahve to say about it:

 BARRY BENNET:  “One of the most used examples of God’s supposed unwillingness to heal is the story of Paul’s thorn.  The argument put forth is that Paul was chronically sick, or perhaps hand an oriental eye disease., and God refused to heal him….(I’m skipping a lot here)…Who took Paul to the third heaven? God.  Who wished to reveal unspeakable words to Paul? God.  Whose kingdom is going to suffer damage by the abundance of the revelations?  Satan.  The “thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan” was sent by whom?  Satan.  What was the purpose of the messenger of Satan?  To buffet Paul lest he should be exalted due to the greatness of what God had shown him.

What is Paul’s thorn in the flesh?  Paul was certainly familiar with scripture and knew exactly what he was referring to, so let’s let scripture interpret scripture. 

“But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell”  (Numbers 33:55)

This passage describes the consequences that God was explaining to Israel if they failed to drive out the enemy from the Promised Land.  Those who remained would be “thorns in their sides.”  This is not referring to sickness but to persistent presence of an enemy in the land that would harass the children of Israel. 

“Know for certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish form the good land which the LORD your God hath given you.  (Joshua 23:13)

Again this is not talking about national sickness, but a harassing enemy. 

“Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before  you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.” (Judges 2:3).

(see also Ezekiel 28:24)

In every case the imagery of a thorn has nothing to do with sickness, but is descriptive of a persistent enemy.  That is why Paul refers to the “messenger of Satan” as a “thorn in the flesh.”

Paul doesn’t say the God made him sick to keep him humble!  It says that Satan sent a messenger or demon to buffet him because of the greatness of Paul’s revelation. 

…..(skipping a bunch again)…..

“Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you. “ (James 4:7)

Apparently, like many of us, Paul got tired of resisting.  God reminded him that His grace was sufficient.  Provision had been provided for Paul to finish his course.  He simply needed to draw upon God’s grace. 

….skipping again….

Paul’s thorn was not a sickness.  God is not double minded about healing.  Jesus took your sickness on the cross and by His stripes you were healed.   Believe the Word and forget none of His benefits! (Taken from Barry Bennett’s book “Did God Do This To Me?”

KENNETH COPELAND

Another tradition that has been well taught referred to Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” from 2 Corinthians 12.  Tradition teaches that Paul’s thorn in the flesh was sickness and disease, but the Word plainly says the thorn was “a messenger of Satan” …..skipping a lot…. God does not use Satan’s messenger service.  God did not give Paul this thorn in the flesh –Satan sent Paul the thorn to stop the Word from being preached.  Jesus said in Mark 4 that Satan comes immediately to steal the Word.  Paul was having to stand against the evil spirit everywhere he went.  …. Skippng some...Tradition reads that he asked the Lord to deliver him and the Lord said no.  Therefore, Paul had to endure the thorn forever.  The Bible actually says, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”  God was saying, “My favor is enough.  You have authority.  You have the name of Jesus when you’re humanly weak, My strength or My power is made perfect” 

We can see an excellent example in Acts 14, when Paul was stoned.  He was dead, but he disciples gathered around him, prayed and the Lord raised him up.  It was humanly impossible for him to do anything.  In his own strength he had no ability to overcome, but when he was humanly weak, the power of God was strong. 

…..skipping again…..

Paul was a victorious man.  He said, “Persecutions , sufferings—such as occurred to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra, persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me.  (2 Timothy 3:11 Amplified Bible).  Tradition forgets to tell us that!  Paul faced trials and tribulations, but the Lord delivered him out of them all.  The thorn in the flesh that we have heard so much about could gain no victory over Paul and the Word of God. The messenger of Satan could only aggravate and harass Paul.  He could not stop him from going forth.  There is a big difference between being aggravated, and being defeated!” (Taken form Kenneth Copeland’s book “Healing and Wellness”

He had more to say on the subject but I will stop there. 

ANDREW WOMMACK

Some people erroneously suppose that God gave this thorn in the flesh to Paul because this kept him from being exalted above measure.  They just automatically think that this is saying that the thorn in the flesh was sent from God to keep him humble.  Not true.

Humility is important, but there’s also a godly type of elevation that is mentioned many times in both the Old and the New Testament scriptures.  One example is 1 Peter 5:6, which says:

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, and he may exalt you in due time.”

Being exalted, being lifted up is good when God does it.  However, some people assume that Paul was speaking about pride in 2 Corinthians 12:7.  They argue, “Paul had a real problem with pride and arrogance, so God gave him this thorn in the flesh to break him and keep him humble.”  That’s not a godly principle.  We just saw that the Bible says to humble yourself.  If God humbles you, that’s not humility, that’s humiliation.  Humility is not something you can force on a person.  It has to come from the inside out. 

Second Corinthians 12:7 is talking about Paul being glorified everywhere he went.  He saw people raised from the dead (Acts 20:9-12), demons cast out (Acts 16:16-18), and many other miracles (Acts 19:11-12).  The people in the city he ministered at exclaimed, “Those that have turned the world upside down have come here also!” (Acts 17:6).  There was so much power and anointing flowing through Paul’s life and ministry that it was drawing many people to the Lord.  They were saying, “I want to be like Paul.  I want to have the ability to overcome adversity.  If I’m thrown in jail for preaching the Gospel, I want an earthquake to come and set me free too!”  (Acts 16:25-33). 

Every time something bad happened, Paul turned it around for his good.  People noticed this, and were saying, “I want that kind of power too” Satan recognized that Paul was drawing many people to the Lord because he was walking in such absolute victory and being exalted by God.  The devil wanted to debase him and do something to keep him from being exalted.  That’s what 2 Corinthians 12:7 is talking about.  Lest Paul be exalted above measure, Satan gave him a thorn in the flesh. It was the devil not God!”  (Taken from Andrew Wommack’s book “God Wants You Well”)