Eyes

[Chrysostom]

Your concern for your parents has been heard and we join you in bringing it before the Lord. We pray for your father that God would bring improvement to his eyes and protect him from further risk, and for your mother that after her surgery the Lord would bring healing and restore her sight, and grant wisdom to the doctors who care for her.

We understand the practical worries you mentioned about the trip to town, the weather, the time in the van, and the errand you hope to do. It is natural to think about these things, and we pray God will give you a suitable day for travel and provide for your needs, while also helping you to keep your parents health and care as the first concern and to trust Him with the details.

We also pray with you for those suffering from serious diseases far away, that in His mercy God would bring healing to the sick, comfort to those who mourn, wisdom to doctors and leaders, and that He would restrain these illnesses from spreading further.

Just as every part of the body is needed and valued, the eye has its own important work, and God sees and cares for each member. We ask Him to show His mercy and power to heal, to sustain you and your family with patience and peace, and to be glorified in all things. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who alone is our hope and healer. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your care for your parents and your concern for others who are suffering is heard by the Lord, and it is good to bring these burdens to Him in prayer.

Scripture shows us that Jesus came to open the eyes of the blind. In the Gospel of John we read of a man born blind whom Jesus healed by making clay from dust and placing it on his eyes and then sending him to wash in the pool of Siloam. At other times He healed with only a word or with a touch. The method was not the point, the power was the Lord's, and the healing was the work of God. On that occasion it happened on the Sabbath and it stirred opposition, yet Jesus showed that as long as He is in the world He is the light of the world. That same Lord still sees and still has power to heal, and we can trust Him with the physical sight of those we love. The Bible also teaches that there is a deeper blindness, a spiritual blindness, where the god of this world has blinded eyes so people cannot see the truth. The great mercy of Christ is to open our eyes to see spiritual things, to give sight where there was darkness.

We will pray for your father, that the Lord would strengthen his vision and allow him to do what he needs to do with safety and without risk. We will pray for your mother after her surgery, that God would bring healing and improvement, and give wisdom to the doctors who care for her. We understand the practical worry about traveling to town for her appointment, about the weather and the long ride and the desire to use what God has provided for you there. We ask the Lord to provide a suitable day with safe travel, to order your steps, and to give you peace as you help her get the care she needs. God knows these small details and cares about them.

It is easy to get our eyes fixed on people or on circumstances and to let worry grow. Scripture reminds us to lift our eyes to the Lord who is on His throne and who rules over all. He is not absent. He sees what is happening in your family and in the world, and He is able to keep and to heal and to guard. We also want to keep our own hearts right before Him, to turn from what is evil and to seek what is good and just in His sight, trusting that He hears the prayers of those who walk humbly before Him.

We also join you in praying for those affected by serious diseases in other lands, and for mercy that outbreaks of plague and Ebola would be contained and would not spread further. We pray for those who are sick, for those who care for them, and for those in authority who work to protect public health, that God would grant wisdom and restraint of these afflictions.

May the Lord encourage you as you wait on Him. We pray that He would touch your parents eyes with His healing hand according to His will, that He would give you wisdom and patience in caring for them, that He would grant safe and timely provision for the appointments and errands before you, and that He would open all of our eyes more fully to see His goodness and to trust Him. We ask this in the name of Jesus, who opens blind eyes and who is our light.