Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for sharing this burden and for caring enough to pray for someone who is no longer close to you in the same way. It is right and good to bring both health and salvation before the Lord, and we join you in that prayer.
The Bible shows that God does care about our physical health. One of the apostles wrote a personal greeting to a dear friend, wishing that he would prosper and be in good health even as his soul was prospering. That beautiful wish reminds us that God is interested in our well being, and there is a real connection between the health of the soul and the health of the body. At the same time that verse is not a blanket promise that God will heal every sickness in this life if we claim it. Scripture is honest that healing rests in Gods will and wisdom. Even the apostle Paul prayed three times for a painful affliction to be removed and the Lord chose not to remove it but to give grace through it. We can and should ask for healing, knowing Jesus showed His power to heal when He healed the leper, the centurions servant, Peters mother in law, and many others who were brought to Him in the evening, and Matthew connects that compassion to the prophecy in Isaiah that He bore our infirmities and sicknesses. There are different ways God heals, sometimes instantly, sometimes gradually through processes He has built into our bodies, and sometimes in ways we do not fully understand. Every healing is from Him, and yet we trust His sovereign choice in each case.
What matters most is the salvation of the soul, and that is the greatest miracle of all. Forgiveness of sins and new life in Christ outweighs even physical healing. The very name Jesus means the Lord is salvation, and He came to save His people from their sins. He is the author of eternal salvation for those who obey Him, and He is the one who finishes the work of faith He begins.
Salvation does not come by merely repeating words or by good deeds. It comes by trusting Jesus as Savior and submitting to Him as Lord, confessing with the mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in the heart that God raised Him from the dead. That kind of faith changes the life. Scripture urges us to work out what God has worked in, living out our salvation with reverence and seriousness, not working for salvation as if we could earn it. The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all people, and now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. It is urgent not to put off responding to Him, because today is the opportunity God gives to turn to Him.
So as you pray for your former partner, keep both needs before the Lord but put the greatest weight on the eternal need. Pray for physical strength and health according to Gods will, and pray even more earnestly that God would draw this person to Himself, open the heart to see the need for a Savior, grant repentance and faith, and bring a true surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. Pray that the soul would prosper through knowing Christ, and that from that prospering, Gods grace would be evident in every other area of life.
We pray with you: Father, we thank You for Your grace that brings salvation through Jesus Christ alone. We lift this person to You and ask for Your mercy on both body and soul. If it is Your will, bring healing and strength, and give wisdom for care of the body You have created. Above all, we ask that You would work by Your Spirit to bring conviction of sin and faith in Jesus, that there would be a sincere confession of Him as Lord and trust in His resurrection, and a life that follows Him in obedience. We ask this in the name of Jesus, our salvation, amen.
The Bible shows that God does care about our physical health. One of the apostles wrote a personal greeting to a dear friend, wishing that he would prosper and be in good health even as his soul was prospering. That beautiful wish reminds us that God is interested in our well being, and there is a real connection between the health of the soul and the health of the body. At the same time that verse is not a blanket promise that God will heal every sickness in this life if we claim it. Scripture is honest that healing rests in Gods will and wisdom. Even the apostle Paul prayed three times for a painful affliction to be removed and the Lord chose not to remove it but to give grace through it. We can and should ask for healing, knowing Jesus showed His power to heal when He healed the leper, the centurions servant, Peters mother in law, and many others who were brought to Him in the evening, and Matthew connects that compassion to the prophecy in Isaiah that He bore our infirmities and sicknesses. There are different ways God heals, sometimes instantly, sometimes gradually through processes He has built into our bodies, and sometimes in ways we do not fully understand. Every healing is from Him, and yet we trust His sovereign choice in each case.
What matters most is the salvation of the soul, and that is the greatest miracle of all. Forgiveness of sins and new life in Christ outweighs even physical healing. The very name Jesus means the Lord is salvation, and He came to save His people from their sins. He is the author of eternal salvation for those who obey Him, and He is the one who finishes the work of faith He begins.
Salvation does not come by merely repeating words or by good deeds. It comes by trusting Jesus as Savior and submitting to Him as Lord, confessing with the mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in the heart that God raised Him from the dead. That kind of faith changes the life. Scripture urges us to work out what God has worked in, living out our salvation with reverence and seriousness, not working for salvation as if we could earn it. The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all people, and now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. It is urgent not to put off responding to Him, because today is the opportunity God gives to turn to Him.
So as you pray for your former partner, keep both needs before the Lord but put the greatest weight on the eternal need. Pray for physical strength and health according to Gods will, and pray even more earnestly that God would draw this person to Himself, open the heart to see the need for a Savior, grant repentance and faith, and bring a true surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. Pray that the soul would prosper through knowing Christ, and that from that prospering, Gods grace would be evident in every other area of life.
We pray with you: Father, we thank You for Your grace that brings salvation through Jesus Christ alone. We lift this person to You and ask for Your mercy on both body and soul. If it is Your will, bring healing and strength, and give wisdom for care of the body You have created. Above all, we ask that You would work by Your Spirit to bring conviction of sin and faith in Jesus, that there would be a sincere confession of Him as Lord and trust in His resurrection, and a life that follows Him in obedience. We ask this in the name of Jesus, our salvation, amen.
