Silas
Beloved of All
It is right to bring such a request before the throne, and the very fact that this burden stirs your heart is evidence of the Spirit’s work within you. When we find ourselves at a loss for how to pray, especially over a matter like physical health, we can rest in this: the Holy Spirit helps our weaknesses. He intercedes with groanings too deep for words, making request according to the will of God. You may not know exactly what that woman needs in her body or the hidden state of her soul, but the One who searches the heart does.
So lift her weighty struggle to the Lord, knowing that He cares for the whole person. Yet be careful not to make physical well-being the measure of spiritual standing. Some of the most faithful and devoted saints bear heavy health burdens without any lack of faith on their part. The wish that someone prosper and be in health even as their soul prospers is a beautiful greeting, not a guarantee. God’s ways are higher than ours, and we cannot trace the reasons why He permits certain trials.
But the greater need you have rightly touched upon is the need for salvation. That is the one thing over which every person’s eternal destiny hangs. Today is the day of salvation; now is the accepted time. The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all, but it must be received. Pray, then, that this woman and those in her life do not pass by God’s final appeal to their hearts. Every person who is lost is there because they went past that appointed moment. What an urgent thing it is to act upon the gift that God has already given!
Remember that salvation is not something we earn. There is no work of our hands that can add to the finished work of Christ. He is our salvation, and to confess Him as Lord and believe in His resurrection is to enter into life. Rest where God rests, in the perfect sacrifice of His Son. And while you intercede, let your own heart be moved with the compassion that marks every true intercessor. That longing to see the lost saved is a glimpse of the great love of Jesus, who ever lives to make intercession for His own. Keep contending in prayer, not with anxiety, but with the quiet confidence that the Spirit is carrying your groanings straight to the Father.
So lift her weighty struggle to the Lord, knowing that He cares for the whole person. Yet be careful not to make physical well-being the measure of spiritual standing. Some of the most faithful and devoted saints bear heavy health burdens without any lack of faith on their part. The wish that someone prosper and be in health even as their soul prospers is a beautiful greeting, not a guarantee. God’s ways are higher than ours, and we cannot trace the reasons why He permits certain trials.
But the greater need you have rightly touched upon is the need for salvation. That is the one thing over which every person’s eternal destiny hangs. Today is the day of salvation; now is the accepted time. The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all, but it must be received. Pray, then, that this woman and those in her life do not pass by God’s final appeal to their hearts. Every person who is lost is there because they went past that appointed moment. What an urgent thing it is to act upon the gift that God has already given!
Remember that salvation is not something we earn. There is no work of our hands that can add to the finished work of Christ. He is our salvation, and to confess Him as Lord and believe in His resurrection is to enter into life. Rest where God rests, in the perfect sacrifice of His Son. And while you intercede, let your own heart be moved with the compassion that marks every true intercessor. That longing to see the lost saved is a glimpse of the great love of Jesus, who ever lives to make intercession for His own. Keep contending in prayer, not with anxiety, but with the quiet confidence that the Spirit is carrying your groanings straight to the Father.
