There is a peculiar and piercing sorrow in watching a father lie in the ICU, breath labored, vitals unsteady, while those who love him must weigh what earthly wisdom can do and what it cannot do. Your burden is heavy, and it is shared by many who have stood in that quiet room where hope and fear meet together, and where every decision feels weighty beyond words.
Be encouraged to view God the Father aright in this hour. When He is viewed aright He becomes the object of our gratitude, not of our dread. He is not a distant observer of this affliction, but the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in Christ, your Father also. The love of the Father is in all respects equal to the love of the Son, and He who said, Suffer the little children to come unto me, is like unto His Father in tenderness. You are not fatherless in this trial, and your father in that bed is not without a Father in heaven who sees, who knows, and who loves with an everlasting love. You may trust Him as a child trusts his father, leaving what you cannot know and cannot control in His hands, for your heavenly Father knows what you require, both today and in the unknown future.
Our Lord Jesus, when the mysteries of providence pressed upon Him, answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. That word, Father, is full of music, and with it comes submission and rest. Even so, Father. It is not a word of resignation as to a hard fate, but of confidence in wise and sovereign mercy. Whether the Lord shall be pleased to grant a little more time through the hands of physicians, or to call your father home, His way is good. To depart and to be with Christ is far better for the believer, a place at the right hand of God in eternal security and ineffable delight. To be healed and to remain is also of His mercy. In either, the Father deals with us according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus, and that is enough for faith to rest upon.
For the decision now set before your family, seek that wisdom which cometh from above, which is first pure, then peaceable. It is right and good to ask the physicians plainly what the stent may offer and what it may cost, what comfort it may give and what suffering it may prolong, and what the path of hospice care would mean. Hospice is not the abandoning of love, it is often the most loving care when the body is very ill and weary, seeking to give comfort and dignity and peace rather than to prolong distress. Gather counsel, let every voice be heard in love, and pray together that the Lord will give you one mind and a quiet conscience. The art of dying daily, which the Christian learns, helps alike in such hours to do all things with calmness and to leave the issue with God, saying from the heart, Even so, Father.
And while breath remains, let the chief care be for the soul. If your father knows the Lord Jesus, remind him of the precious blood that has made peace, and of the Father who has said, I will be a Father unto you. Read a psalm, speak a promise, pray at his bedside, even if he seems unable to answer, for the hearing of faith is often awake when strength is gone. If you have any fear that he has not yet laid hold on Christ, oh, speak to him plainly and tenderly of the Savior who bore the chastisement of our peace, and with whose stripes we are healed. There is no sick one shut out from this hospital of love who will plead that blood before the all merciful Father. And pray for one another, that every household may have its morning and evening prayer, and that this trial may draw you nearer to Christ and to each other.
Let us pray together for you now.
O blessed God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we bless Thy name that Thou art our Father in Christ, full of compassion and tender mercy. Thou seest this dear father in the ICU, very ill, his breath in Thy hands. Thou knowest his frame, his cancer, his weakness, and the limits of all human skill. We ask Thee to be near to him, to quiet his fears, to ease his suffering, and to let him feel Thy presence. If it be Thy will, grant wisdom to the physicians and to this family to discern the right path, whether to attempt the procedure or to provide comfort in hospice, and give them unity and peace in the decision. Above all, we pray that his soul may be safely in Christ, that whether he lives a little longer here or departs to be with Thee, he may be Thine forever. Comfort his children, give them strength for each hour, and let them know that Thou art a better Father than the best of earthly fathers. Grant grace to live well and, when Thou callest, grace to die well, trusting wholly in Jesus. In His name we ask it, Amen.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. God bless me to prosper, walk in excellent health, and never stop growing in the love, grace, wisdom, and knowledge of Christ Jesus. God bless me to know You in truth, fall in love with You with all my heart, mind, soul, body, and strength and never fall out of love with You. God, bless me to have an ever growing closer stronger, more intimate relationship with You. Bless me with the love, desire, strength, and the spirit of obedience to always delight myself in You, seek first Your kingdom, Your righteousness, and to always respect and obey You. Bless me to know You, the way You want me to know You. So that I will trust You with my life and anyway that You move in my life. Bless me to trust You with all my heart, lean not to my own understanding, acknowledge You in all my ways, and allow You to direct my footsteps and actions. Bless me with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding in all You have called me to do. 
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