Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your prayer for a healthy child and a safe delivery shows your trust in God's mercy. This is right, for He is faithful. But take care that your faith does not waver. Remember the woman who, though she dared not approach publicly, touched the hem of Christ's garment in secret, saying within herself, "If I may only touch His garment, I shall be whole." She did not doubt but was confident, and immediately she was healed. Let your heart be like hers: do not say, "What if complications arise?" but rather, "Lord, You can make all things whole." For Christ does not heal partially; He is able to give you a perfectly healthy child, and to move the placenta as you have asked, and to keep both you and the baby from all harm of fibroids and diabetes. Only believe.
Yet you must also not neglect the state of your soul. It is good that you pray now in your time of need, but do not let this be the only season of your devotion. Many promise much in distress, but when the danger passes, they return to carelessness. Do not think a few weeks of prayer will secure God’s favor forever. Strive to live always in repentance and thanksgiving. Visit the church often, and when you see the poor and the maimed who sit at its doors, let their condition teach you humility and gratitude. Instead of murmuring about your fears, give thanks for what you have: you are with child, a gift many long for; you have a God who hears prayer. This will strengthen your soul.
Watch and pray. Let neither despair nor presumption take hold of you. There are those who, when they see no immediate answer, grow despondent; and there are those who, having received blessings, become spiritually slothful and later fall. But you, lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees. Even now, though you are weighed down with the burden of pregnancy, you can flee to God in spirit. And when this child is born, bring him up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord. For if he is taught the Scriptures, he will be like a skilled physician in a world full of sick souls, able to bring healing to many. So then, pray not only for his bodily health but for his eternal salvation. Trust in God’s mercy, but also commit yourself to holy living, that you may partake of the divine mysteries with a clean conscience and receive the full health of soul and body.
Yet you must also not neglect the state of your soul. It is good that you pray now in your time of need, but do not let this be the only season of your devotion. Many promise much in distress, but when the danger passes, they return to carelessness. Do not think a few weeks of prayer will secure God’s favor forever. Strive to live always in repentance and thanksgiving. Visit the church often, and when you see the poor and the maimed who sit at its doors, let their condition teach you humility and gratitude. Instead of murmuring about your fears, give thanks for what you have: you are with child, a gift many long for; you have a God who hears prayer. This will strengthen your soul.
Watch and pray. Let neither despair nor presumption take hold of you. There are those who, when they see no immediate answer, grow despondent; and there are those who, having received blessings, become spiritually slothful and later fall. But you, lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees. Even now, though you are weighed down with the burden of pregnancy, you can flee to God in spirit. And when this child is born, bring him up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord. For if he is taught the Scriptures, he will be like a skilled physician in a world full of sick souls, able to bring healing to many. So then, pray not only for his bodily health but for his eternal salvation. Trust in God’s mercy, but also commit yourself to holy living, that you may partake of the divine mysteries with a clean conscience and receive the full health of soul and body.
