Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer reflects such a tender heart for the Lord and for the older loved ones He has placed in your life, and it is right to bring all of these needs before Him.
It is good that you are asking for faith, for health of body and soul, for renewed minds, and for grace to honor parents. Scripture puts great weight on honoring father and mother. It is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you and that you may live long. That honoring is not just words, it includes practical care for parents in their later years, providing for them and nourishing them, and not turning away from that responsibility. When the family order is honored, it strengthens the whole fabric of life, and when it breaks down, much else breaks down with it. To obey parents in the Lord is right, with the understanding that our first obedience is to the Lord Himself if we are ever asked to do what is ungodly.
You are also praying for healing, and the Lord does hear those prayers. The prophet Isaiah said He bore our infirmities and sicknesses, and Matthew applies that to the physical healings Jesus did, as well as to the healing of sin. Jesus healed many different people in many different ways. Sometimes He healed instantly with a word, sometimes with a touch, sometimes from a distance, and once gradually. There is no single pattern that He is bound to. All true healing is from God, whether it comes in a moment or through the slow, natural processes He Himself built into our bodies. Nature is His creation, and the healing processes within our bodies are His provision. He also heals the mind and the emotions, mending the wounds and scars that life leaves.
There is much about healing we do not fully understand. We do not always know why some are healed as we ask and others are not, even when we pray earnestly. The apostle Paul prayed three times for his thorn in the flesh to be removed, and the Lord chose not to remove it but to give grace in it. That reminds us that we cannot presume healing in every case on our terms, but we can trust the compassion and wisdom of God and keep asking while resting in His will.
It is also important to remember that sickness or disability is not always a direct punishment for personal sin or for the sin of parents. When the disciples asked about the man born blind, whether it was his sin or his parents, Jesus answered neither, but that God had allowed it so His works could be displayed. At the same time, Scripture is honest that the choices of parents do have real consequences for children that are often unavoidable, and many carry difficulties because of what came before them. Yet there is always a way out in Christ, who can straighten what has been broken and renew the mind.
That renewing is exactly what you are praying for, and God answers it through His Word. Faith comes by hearing the Word, and growth comes as we desire the pure milk of the Word and then go on to solid food. As the Word of Christ dwells richly in us, as we keep it in our hearts and do what it says and not only hear it, we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. He opens our understanding, roots us in love so Christ dwells in our hearts by faith, and gives us the mind of Christ. That leads to abiding fellowship with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, to bearing fruit and to knowing the joy of answered prayer as we abide in Him and His words abide in us.
Keep sharing the Word with those elderly loved ones as they are able to hear, keep praying for their peace and protection from evil, and keep asking for grace to walk in truth. The Lord who pardons iniquities and heals diseases and crowns our lives with tender mercy is able to provide all that is needed for life and godliness, and to cause you all to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus our Savior, becoming mature and fruitful in love and in every good work.
It is good that you are asking for faith, for health of body and soul, for renewed minds, and for grace to honor parents. Scripture puts great weight on honoring father and mother. It is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you and that you may live long. That honoring is not just words, it includes practical care for parents in their later years, providing for them and nourishing them, and not turning away from that responsibility. When the family order is honored, it strengthens the whole fabric of life, and when it breaks down, much else breaks down with it. To obey parents in the Lord is right, with the understanding that our first obedience is to the Lord Himself if we are ever asked to do what is ungodly.
You are also praying for healing, and the Lord does hear those prayers. The prophet Isaiah said He bore our infirmities and sicknesses, and Matthew applies that to the physical healings Jesus did, as well as to the healing of sin. Jesus healed many different people in many different ways. Sometimes He healed instantly with a word, sometimes with a touch, sometimes from a distance, and once gradually. There is no single pattern that He is bound to. All true healing is from God, whether it comes in a moment or through the slow, natural processes He Himself built into our bodies. Nature is His creation, and the healing processes within our bodies are His provision. He also heals the mind and the emotions, mending the wounds and scars that life leaves.
There is much about healing we do not fully understand. We do not always know why some are healed as we ask and others are not, even when we pray earnestly. The apostle Paul prayed three times for his thorn in the flesh to be removed, and the Lord chose not to remove it but to give grace in it. That reminds us that we cannot presume healing in every case on our terms, but we can trust the compassion and wisdom of God and keep asking while resting in His will.
It is also important to remember that sickness or disability is not always a direct punishment for personal sin or for the sin of parents. When the disciples asked about the man born blind, whether it was his sin or his parents, Jesus answered neither, but that God had allowed it so His works could be displayed. At the same time, Scripture is honest that the choices of parents do have real consequences for children that are often unavoidable, and many carry difficulties because of what came before them. Yet there is always a way out in Christ, who can straighten what has been broken and renew the mind.
That renewing is exactly what you are praying for, and God answers it through His Word. Faith comes by hearing the Word, and growth comes as we desire the pure milk of the Word and then go on to solid food. As the Word of Christ dwells richly in us, as we keep it in our hearts and do what it says and not only hear it, we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. He opens our understanding, roots us in love so Christ dwells in our hearts by faith, and gives us the mind of Christ. That leads to abiding fellowship with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, to bearing fruit and to knowing the joy of answered prayer as we abide in Him and His words abide in us.
Keep sharing the Word with those elderly loved ones as they are able to hear, keep praying for their peace and protection from evil, and keep asking for grace to walk in truth. The Lord who pardons iniquities and heals diseases and crowns our lives with tender mercy is able to provide all that is needed for life and godliness, and to cause you all to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus our Savior, becoming mature and fruitful in love and in every good work.
