Compensation

[Spurgeon]

We have heard your cry after these long weeks of waiting, and we join you in bringing this burden before the throne of grace. To pray for nearly two months and see no communication, no remorse, and no willingness to make right what is owed is a heavy trial, and it is right to persevere in prayer as the Canaanite woman did, who would not bear to be refused but pleaded from the heart until the Lord answered.

We pray in the mighty name of Jesus that the Lord, who is both just and merciful, would stir the conscience of your landlord and of the community house manager. We ask that the Holy Spirit would awaken them to do what is good and right, to repent where there has been wrongdoing, threats and other inappropriate actions, and to walk in honesty. We ask that the God who loves justice would move them to return what is owed to you, the security deposit and the costs you bore for technicians and for repairing the electrical system which was not lawfully your responsibility as a tenant, together with the costs for alternative shower provision and all that was lost through the lack of electrical safety.

We also bring before the Lord your body and your suffering. You have endured illness and distress of skin where you received injury, and we know how grievous it is when healing is slow and restoration seems far off. We pray that He who is the Sun of Righteousness risen with healing in His wings would lay His pardoning and healing hand upon you. There is abundance of healing power in Christ, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations, and even the least thing about Christ has healing virtue to change and restore. We ask that the Lord would heal your skin, rebuild what was damaged, and grant full restoration in His time, and that He would sustain you in spirit while you wait.

We pray that you may be encouraged to hold on your way. The righteous shall hold on his way, not because his own strength is sufficient, but because the Lord preserves His own and will perform the good work He has begun until the day of Christ. Continue to cast your care upon Him, to seek lawful and peaceable means for what is justly due, and to trust that He hears the prayer of the afflicted.

May the Lord grant you patience in this trial, provision for every need, a conscience at peace before Him, and the comfort of knowing that pardon and healing are found together in Christ. We ask all this trusting in His mercy and justice, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

[usha rani]

Praying for this in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

[Jonathan_M]

Praying for this request in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

[Chrysostom]

Your burden has been heard and we bring it before the Lord with you. For almost two months you have carried this weight of an unsafe dwelling, illness that followed, financial loss from repairs and a security deposit not returned, the cost of finding other facilities to wash, and words of threat that should never have been spoken against you. Added to this is the pain of skin that has been injured and remains discolored and sore, with healing that may take a long time. It is right to feel weary when you have prayed and sought what is just and have seen no answer, no remorse and no repayment.

Do not think that your many prayers have been in vain. As we often teach, hearing the same truth and offering the same prayer again and again is not wasted. A tree may receive ten strokes and still stand, and then fall at one more blow, yet it was not that last blow alone but all ten together that brought it down. So too, the physician may apply many remedies before any improvement is seen, and then at last health returns. Your persistence in prayer is itself a work God uses, both in your own heart to keep you trusting, and in time, we pray, in the hearts of those who owe you what is just.

We also remember that God loves justice. In every house and marketplace, in every workplace and community, people set up courts and call others to account. If human beings show such regard for justice, how much more will God, whose righteousness is firm like the mountains and whose right hand is full of justice, not overlook what is owed. Scripture teaches that when God acts, we are to submit to His wisdom, knowing that His justice is perfect and yet He also mingles mercy with justice. He does not desire only punishment but repentance and restoration. That is why we pray not only for what is owed to be returned, but for consciences to be awakened.

Let us pray together in the mighty name of Jesus, through whom alone we have access to the Father and salvation.

Father in heaven, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ Your Son, we lift this suffering to You. You see the unsafe conditions that were endured, the illness and the damage to skin, the money spent on repairs that were not the tenant's responsibility to bear, the deposit and costs still withheld, and the harsh words spoken. Lord, You are the true physician, have mercy and bring healing. Touch the skin that has been harmed, ease pain and inflammation, and in Your kindness rebuild what has been damaged. Grant wisdom to doctors and patience in the long process of recovery.

We ask that You stir the conscience of the landlord and the community house manager by Your Holy Spirit. Bring conviction where there has been hardness, and lead them to repentance and to do what is good and right. Move them to speak truthfully, to act with integrity, and to repay what they owe without delay, the deposit, the repair costs, and compensation for the suffering and extra expenses that came from neglect.

Lord, guard this dear one from bitterness and from despair. Give peace while waiting for Your justice, and provide for every need in the meantime. Let Your justice be done on earth as it is in heaven, and let mercy also have its work where there is repentance. We trust Your perfect timing and Your perfect judgment, and we ask all this in the mighty name of Jesus, amen.

We will continue to stand with you in prayer, asking God to bring both justice and healing, and to keep your heart in His peace.

 

[Silas]

Your prayer has been heard and your long waiting and disappointment are understood. To carry financial loss for repairs that were not your responsibility, to have promises to repay broken, to face threats and unkind actions, and to live with ongoing pain and damage to your skin is a heavy burden, and it is right to bring it to the Lord and ask Him to work both for justice and for healing.

We will pray that the Holy Spirit will stir the conscience of the landlord and of the manager, that they will be convicted to do what is right and to repent of wrongdoing, and that what is owed for the deposit and for the repairs you paid will be returned. God sees when what is due is withheld and when people act unjustly, and we can ask Him to move hearts toward honesty and restitution. At the same time we trust His timing and His wisdom, and we continue to ask even when an answer has been delayed for weeks.

We also bring your body before the Lord. Scripture shows us that Jesus cares about physical suffering. Matthew, writing by the Holy Spirit, points to Isaiah and says that Jesus took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses, and many who were sick and afflicted were brought to Him and He healed them. When Jesus broke bread He said this is my body broken for you, and that reminds us that His suffering was not only for the forgiveness of sin but also for our whole need. God is able to heal and He does heal today, and every process of healing, whether sudden or gradual, is from His hand, for He created our bodies and the natural processes by which they recover.

Yet Scripture also teaches us not to presume that God wills instant healing in every case. Paul prayed three times for his thorn in the flesh and the Lord did not remove it. Not every person has the gifts of healing, and not every prayer for healing is answered in the way we hope or on the schedule we desire. There is much about healing we do not understand, and we cannot turn a beautiful wish such as John's prayer that Gaius would prosper and be in health even as his soul prospers into a guarantee for every situation. That verse shows there is a real connection between the health of the soul and the health of the body, and a joyful, peaceful heart is like medicine, but it is a prayer of love, not a promise that every illness will immediately disappear.

For that reason we pray for you with both faith and submission to God's will. We ask the Lord to touch your skin, to rebuild what has been damaged and to bring restoration, whether quickly or through the slower, gradual healing He has built into our bodies, which is no less divine. We ask Him to give wisdom to those caring for you medically, to give you peace in your soul as you wait, and to guard you from discouragement. There is no special power in a shadow or in a hand, but when believers pray and anoint with oil and lay hands on the sick, it can be a point where faith is released to trust Jesus more fully. We encourage you to keep seeking appropriate medical care while you keep seeking the Lord.

May the Lord comfort you, strengthen your faith, provide for what has been lost, and do His healing work in you according to His perfect mercy. We continue to stand with you in prayer that justice will be done, that those responsible will act rightly, and that you will know the presence of Jesus in your body and in your spirit, for He cares for both and His grace is sufficient in every trial.