Silas
Beloved of All
Your request has been received and I have taken time to pray over the long burden you have been carrying. To wait for months without communication or any willingness to make things right, to bear the cost of repairs that were not your responsibility, to lose the security deposit and to live with ongoing health effects and damage to your skin is a heavy trial, and it is right to bring it before the Lord.
Scripture speaks clearly about the kind of injustice you have described. The prophet Jeremiah pronounces woe on the one who builds by unrighteousness and injustice, who makes his neighbor serve for nothing and does not give him his wages. God is not indifferent to these matters. He defends the poor and He calls those who hold power over houses and money to deal honestly. It is right to pray that the Holy Spirit would awaken conscience, bring conviction, and lead to repentance and to doing what is just and good. That includes repaying what is owed, the deposit and the costs you paid for technicians and for the electrical system that was the responsibility of the house.
I also join you in prayer for your body. The gospel shows us that Jesus cares about physical suffering. In the evening at Peter's house many sick and afflicted people were brought to Him and He healed them, and Matthew by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit connects that to the prophecy of Isaiah, surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sicknesses. The word there can be translated infirmities. When Jesus broke the bread and said this is my body broken for you, He was pointing to a work that includes both forgiveness of sin and the bearing of our infirmities. That is why we can confidently ask Him for healing today. He still has authority over the physical realm, and He used His power not to meet His own needs but to meet the needs of others.
At the same time the Bible keeps us from presuming that healing must come instantly or in the same way in every case. Paul prayed three times concerning his thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan that buffeted him, and the Lord did not remove it. The Scripture also asks, do all have gifts of healings, do all speak with tongues, and the expected answer is no. The body has many members and gifts are distributed as God wills. There is much about healing we do not fully understand, why some are healed quickly and others are not.
What we do know is that God does heal, and that healing takes many forms. Some healings are immediate and some are gradual. In fact the only gradual healing recorded in the ministry of Jesus reminds us that gradual is still real. Any healing process is from God. He created our bodies and He established the processes by which they mend and rebuild. That work is no less divine because it comes through natural means. He also heals the mind and the emotions, lifting the wounds and scars that suffering leaves.
There is a close connection between the health of the soul and the health of the body. The apostle John wrote to Gaius, I wish above all that you may prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers. That was a loving wish, not a blanket promise that everyone will always be well, but it does point to a true principle that Scripture also gives in the proverb, a merry heart does good like a medicine. Prolonged stress, grief and anxiety can harm the body, while peace and hope in the Lord can help sustain it.
So I am praying for you in this balanced and hopeful way. I am asking the Lord to touch your skin and to rebuild what has been damaged, whether that comes through a direct work of His hand or through the gradual, God given process of restoration over time, which can indeed take a long while. I am asking Him to bring healing to your whole person, body, mind and spirit, and to give you peace as you wait. Following the instruction in James, I encourage you to also ask the elders to pray for you and to anoint you in the name of the Lord, for the prayer of faith has power. Remember how Elijah prayed that it would not rain and it did not rain for three years and six months, and he prayed again and heaven gave rain. Persistent prayer matters to God.
My prayer for you is this. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ who alone is our Savior and who bore our sins and our sicknesses, I bring this dear one before You. You see the electrical danger that was allowed, the illness and skin affliction that followed, the costs borne, the threats and wrong actions, and the months of silence. You see the deposit and repair money that has not been returned. I ask that You would move upon the landlord and the house manager, awaken their consciences by Your Holy Spirit, grant repentance, and lead them to act justly and to repay what is owed. I ask for Your healing hand upon this body, for restoration of skin and for renewal where tissue was damaged, for relief from pain and for strength day by day. Heal also the weariness and discouragement of soul, and let Your peace guard heart and mind. Provide for every practical need, for a safe place to live and for provision for alternative facilities until all is made right. Let Your will be done, and give grace to trust You whether healing comes at once or through Your appointed gradual process. I ask this in Jesus mighty name, amen.
Please continue to seek the Lord, stay close to His Word, care for your body with cleanliness and rest as you are able, and keep trusted believers praying with you. God sees, God cares, and He is able.
Scripture speaks clearly about the kind of injustice you have described. The prophet Jeremiah pronounces woe on the one who builds by unrighteousness and injustice, who makes his neighbor serve for nothing and does not give him his wages. God is not indifferent to these matters. He defends the poor and He calls those who hold power over houses and money to deal honestly. It is right to pray that the Holy Spirit would awaken conscience, bring conviction, and lead to repentance and to doing what is just and good. That includes repaying what is owed, the deposit and the costs you paid for technicians and for the electrical system that was the responsibility of the house.
I also join you in prayer for your body. The gospel shows us that Jesus cares about physical suffering. In the evening at Peter's house many sick and afflicted people were brought to Him and He healed them, and Matthew by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit connects that to the prophecy of Isaiah, surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sicknesses. The word there can be translated infirmities. When Jesus broke the bread and said this is my body broken for you, He was pointing to a work that includes both forgiveness of sin and the bearing of our infirmities. That is why we can confidently ask Him for healing today. He still has authority over the physical realm, and He used His power not to meet His own needs but to meet the needs of others.
At the same time the Bible keeps us from presuming that healing must come instantly or in the same way in every case. Paul prayed three times concerning his thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan that buffeted him, and the Lord did not remove it. The Scripture also asks, do all have gifts of healings, do all speak with tongues, and the expected answer is no. The body has many members and gifts are distributed as God wills. There is much about healing we do not fully understand, why some are healed quickly and others are not.
What we do know is that God does heal, and that healing takes many forms. Some healings are immediate and some are gradual. In fact the only gradual healing recorded in the ministry of Jesus reminds us that gradual is still real. Any healing process is from God. He created our bodies and He established the processes by which they mend and rebuild. That work is no less divine because it comes through natural means. He also heals the mind and the emotions, lifting the wounds and scars that suffering leaves.
There is a close connection between the health of the soul and the health of the body. The apostle John wrote to Gaius, I wish above all that you may prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers. That was a loving wish, not a blanket promise that everyone will always be well, but it does point to a true principle that Scripture also gives in the proverb, a merry heart does good like a medicine. Prolonged stress, grief and anxiety can harm the body, while peace and hope in the Lord can help sustain it.
So I am praying for you in this balanced and hopeful way. I am asking the Lord to touch your skin and to rebuild what has been damaged, whether that comes through a direct work of His hand or through the gradual, God given process of restoration over time, which can indeed take a long while. I am asking Him to bring healing to your whole person, body, mind and spirit, and to give you peace as you wait. Following the instruction in James, I encourage you to also ask the elders to pray for you and to anoint you in the name of the Lord, for the prayer of faith has power. Remember how Elijah prayed that it would not rain and it did not rain for three years and six months, and he prayed again and heaven gave rain. Persistent prayer matters to God.
My prayer for you is this. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ who alone is our Savior and who bore our sins and our sicknesses, I bring this dear one before You. You see the electrical danger that was allowed, the illness and skin affliction that followed, the costs borne, the threats and wrong actions, and the months of silence. You see the deposit and repair money that has not been returned. I ask that You would move upon the landlord and the house manager, awaken their consciences by Your Holy Spirit, grant repentance, and lead them to act justly and to repay what is owed. I ask for Your healing hand upon this body, for restoration of skin and for renewal where tissue was damaged, for relief from pain and for strength day by day. Heal also the weariness and discouragement of soul, and let Your peace guard heart and mind. Provide for every practical need, for a safe place to live and for provision for alternative facilities until all is made right. Let Your will be done, and give grace to trust You whether healing comes at once or through Your appointed gradual process. I ask this in Jesus mighty name, amen.
Please continue to seek the Lord, stay close to His Word, care for your body with cleanliness and rest as you are able, and keep trusted believers praying with you. God sees, God cares, and He is able.
