Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer reflects a sincere desire to walk by faith and to see those you love, especially the older generation among you, strengthened in every way. It is good to bring these requests before the Lord, for without faith it is impossible to please Him, and He rewards those who diligently seek Him.
You have asked for healing, and it is right to ask. The Scripture shows that Jesus healed in many different ways. Sometimes He healed instantly with a word, sometimes with a touch, sometimes without even being present, and in one case the healing came gradually. There is no single pattern that He is bound to. Much about healing remains mysterious to us. We do not fully understand why some are healed quickly and others are not, and we should not presume that God wills instant healing in every case. The apostle Paul prayed three times concerning his thorn in the flesh and the Lord did not remove it, but gave grace to endure it.
At the same time we do believe in healing, and we believe that all true healing is from God. The natural processes of recovery that God has placed in our bodies are themselves divine, because He created them. He also brings healing to the mind and emotions, healing the wounds and scars that life leaves, and that too is His work. The prophet Isaiah spoke of the suffering servant bearing our sicknesses, and Matthew applies that to physical healing as well as to the forgiveness of sins. When we remember the body of Christ broken for us, we remember that His work touches both soul and body.
Faith comes by hearing the Word of God, and your longing for the Word to dwell richly, to be retained and obeyed and not merely heard, is exactly what leads to growth. The desire to move from milk to solid food, to be rooted and grounded in love, to have the eyes of understanding opened and the mind renewed so that you may know the will of God and have the mind of Christ, is the path to maturity. That renewal comes as you continue in the Word, craving it, keeping it in your heart, and doing what it says, abiding in Christ so that His words abide in you. As that happens you bear fruit, the fruit of the Spirit, and grow in grace and knowledge.
You also pray about honoring your parents, and that is a command with a promise, that it may go well with you and that you may live long. Scripture says to obey parents in the Lord, for this is right. That phrase in the Lord matters, because no child is called to obey a demand that is ungodly. But the basic order God has established is that children honor their father and mother, and when that order is kept families are strengthened and society is strengthened. Part of that honor is caring for aged parents and providing for their needs, not turning away from that responsibility. Your desire to share the Word with them in a way they can hear, and to provide for their spiritual and practical needs, is honoring to God.
In the case of the man born blind, Jesus made clear that his condition was not caused by his own sin or his parents sin. Some suffering is simply allowed by God for His purposes to be displayed. We should not assume that sickness is always a direct result of personal failure.
For those who are sick, Scripture gives a simple direction. If anyone is sick, let him call for the elders of the church to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up. The oil itself is symbolic. It is not the oil that heals, but it serves as a point of contact to release faith, an act of obedience that looks to the Lord as the healer. He is the one who rebuked fever and disease, who delivers from evil and keeps His people from the evil one, who sanctifies by His truth and washes by the water of the Word.
So we will pray with you. Father, we thank You for Your benefits, that You forgive iniquities and heal diseases and crown our lives with tender mercy. We ask for grace upon grace for these loved ones and for those who care for them. Provide for their needs for life and godliness, grant health to body and soul as their souls prosper, and cause them to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Establish them in the foundational truths of Your Word and lead them on to maturity, that love may abound and the fruit of the Spirit be seen. Open their minds to understand the Scriptures, give a hunger for the pure milk of the Word and strength to receive solid food, and let the Word of Christ dwell richly within them. Transform them by the renewing of their minds. For those who are sick, we ask Your merciful healing according to Your perfect will, whether instantly or gradually, and we trust Your wisdom when Your answer is grace to endure. Keep them from evil, give peace within their walls, and keep them abiding in You. In the name of Jesus we ask this, trusting Your goodness and Your Word.
You have asked for healing, and it is right to ask. The Scripture shows that Jesus healed in many different ways. Sometimes He healed instantly with a word, sometimes with a touch, sometimes without even being present, and in one case the healing came gradually. There is no single pattern that He is bound to. Much about healing remains mysterious to us. We do not fully understand why some are healed quickly and others are not, and we should not presume that God wills instant healing in every case. The apostle Paul prayed three times concerning his thorn in the flesh and the Lord did not remove it, but gave grace to endure it.
At the same time we do believe in healing, and we believe that all true healing is from God. The natural processes of recovery that God has placed in our bodies are themselves divine, because He created them. He also brings healing to the mind and emotions, healing the wounds and scars that life leaves, and that too is His work. The prophet Isaiah spoke of the suffering servant bearing our sicknesses, and Matthew applies that to physical healing as well as to the forgiveness of sins. When we remember the body of Christ broken for us, we remember that His work touches both soul and body.
Faith comes by hearing the Word of God, and your longing for the Word to dwell richly, to be retained and obeyed and not merely heard, is exactly what leads to growth. The desire to move from milk to solid food, to be rooted and grounded in love, to have the eyes of understanding opened and the mind renewed so that you may know the will of God and have the mind of Christ, is the path to maturity. That renewal comes as you continue in the Word, craving it, keeping it in your heart, and doing what it says, abiding in Christ so that His words abide in you. As that happens you bear fruit, the fruit of the Spirit, and grow in grace and knowledge.
You also pray about honoring your parents, and that is a command with a promise, that it may go well with you and that you may live long. Scripture says to obey parents in the Lord, for this is right. That phrase in the Lord matters, because no child is called to obey a demand that is ungodly. But the basic order God has established is that children honor their father and mother, and when that order is kept families are strengthened and society is strengthened. Part of that honor is caring for aged parents and providing for their needs, not turning away from that responsibility. Your desire to share the Word with them in a way they can hear, and to provide for their spiritual and practical needs, is honoring to God.
In the case of the man born blind, Jesus made clear that his condition was not caused by his own sin or his parents sin. Some suffering is simply allowed by God for His purposes to be displayed. We should not assume that sickness is always a direct result of personal failure.
For those who are sick, Scripture gives a simple direction. If anyone is sick, let him call for the elders of the church to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up. The oil itself is symbolic. It is not the oil that heals, but it serves as a point of contact to release faith, an act of obedience that looks to the Lord as the healer. He is the one who rebuked fever and disease, who delivers from evil and keeps His people from the evil one, who sanctifies by His truth and washes by the water of the Word.
So we will pray with you. Father, we thank You for Your benefits, that You forgive iniquities and heal diseases and crown our lives with tender mercy. We ask for grace upon grace for these loved ones and for those who care for them. Provide for their needs for life and godliness, grant health to body and soul as their souls prosper, and cause them to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Establish them in the foundational truths of Your Word and lead them on to maturity, that love may abound and the fruit of the Spirit be seen. Open their minds to understand the Scriptures, give a hunger for the pure milk of the Word and strength to receive solid food, and let the Word of Christ dwell richly within them. Transform them by the renewing of their minds. For those who are sick, we ask Your merciful healing according to Your perfect will, whether instantly or gradually, and we trust Your wisdom when Your answer is grace to endure. Keep them from evil, give peace within their walls, and keep them abiding in You. In the name of Jesus we ask this, trusting Your goodness and Your Word.
