Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer reflects a sincere desire for what God desires, to walk in fellowship with Him and with one another, to abide in Christ and see His Word abide in you, and to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit in everyday life.
You mentioned the verse that speaks of prospering and being in health even as the soul prospers. That was written as a personal greeting from John to his beloved friend Gaius, a warm wish for his well being, much as we might write hoping a letter finds someone well. It is a beautiful wish, but it is not given in Scripture as a blanket promise that God guarantees physical health to everyone in every circumstance. What it does show us is something valuable, that there is a real connection between the health of the soul and the health of the body. We are learning more and more how attitudes and the condition of the inner life affect the body, even down to its chemistry. To prosper in the soul, to be rooted and grounded in love, to have Christ dwelling in the heart by faith and the mind renewed by the Word, brings strength that touches the whole person.
That same desire to honor your parents is right and pleasing to God. Scripture puts great weight on honoring father and mother, which includes obeying parents in the Lord, for this is right. The phrase in the Lord is important, because no child is called to obey a demand to sin, but the normal pattern God established is for children to honor and respect parental authority. That honor does not end in childhood. To show piety at home and to repay parents by caring for them in their later years is described as good and acceptable before God. Just as Ruth provided for Naomi in her old age, so caring for elderly loved ones, providing for their spiritual, emotional and practical needs, is part of walking out that command which carries promise.
Your request for healing is also close to the heart of God, and He is indeed interested in your health. Scripture shows His concern for our bodies, for what we take in and for cleanliness and care that protects against disease. At the same time the Bible is honest that healing comes in many ways. Jesus healed in different ways, sometimes with a word, sometimes with touch, sometimes instantly and in one case gradually, and He did not follow a single pattern. All true healing is from God, whether it comes in a moment or through the natural processes He built into our bodies, for nature itself is His creation. The prophet Isaiah spoke of Him bearing our infirmities and sicknesses, and Matthew applies that to the healing ministry of Jesus, which reminds us that Christ's work touches both soul and body.
Yet Scripture also teaches that we cannot presume God wills to heal in every case in this life in the way we ask. Paul prayed three times concerning his thorn in the flesh and the Lord did not remove it. Timothy, a close and faithful companion of Paul, continued to have frequent infirmities, and Paul gave him practical counsel for his health rather than a miraculous cure. In those cases it was not a lack of faith or hidden sin, but something within the larger purposes of God that we do not fully understand. So we pray confidently for healing, we ask Him to keep us from evil and to rebuke sickness, and we trust His wisdom and love with the outcome, knowing He can heal instantly, gradually, or through means, and that He also works healing in the mind and heart even while the body waits.
Your longing to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, to move from milk to solid food, to have the Word of Christ dwell richly within and to be transformed by the renewing of the mind, is the path God has given for that growth. As we continue in His Word, as disciples who abide in Him, we come to know His will, to have the mind of Christ, and to be made doers of the Word and not hearers only. That abiding life is where prayer is answered, joy is made full, and fruit remains.
We join you in prayer now. Father, we ask for true fellowship with You and with one another through the blood of Jesus, for Your Word to dwell richly in these loved ones and to sanctify them in truth. Grant grace to honor father and mother and to show kindness at home, providing what is needed for life and godliness. Strengthen them in inner being, renew their minds, and cause them to grow from the elementary principles into maturity, bearing the fruit of love and the Spirit. We ask for Your mercy over their bodies, for healing according to Your will, for protection from evil and from the evil one, and for peace within their homes. Open the eyes of understanding, give a hunger for the sincere milk of the Word and for solid food in due time, and keep them abiding in Christ, that their lives may show forth Your goodness. In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.
You mentioned the verse that speaks of prospering and being in health even as the soul prospers. That was written as a personal greeting from John to his beloved friend Gaius, a warm wish for his well being, much as we might write hoping a letter finds someone well. It is a beautiful wish, but it is not given in Scripture as a blanket promise that God guarantees physical health to everyone in every circumstance. What it does show us is something valuable, that there is a real connection between the health of the soul and the health of the body. We are learning more and more how attitudes and the condition of the inner life affect the body, even down to its chemistry. To prosper in the soul, to be rooted and grounded in love, to have Christ dwelling in the heart by faith and the mind renewed by the Word, brings strength that touches the whole person.
That same desire to honor your parents is right and pleasing to God. Scripture puts great weight on honoring father and mother, which includes obeying parents in the Lord, for this is right. The phrase in the Lord is important, because no child is called to obey a demand to sin, but the normal pattern God established is for children to honor and respect parental authority. That honor does not end in childhood. To show piety at home and to repay parents by caring for them in their later years is described as good and acceptable before God. Just as Ruth provided for Naomi in her old age, so caring for elderly loved ones, providing for their spiritual, emotional and practical needs, is part of walking out that command which carries promise.
Your request for healing is also close to the heart of God, and He is indeed interested in your health. Scripture shows His concern for our bodies, for what we take in and for cleanliness and care that protects against disease. At the same time the Bible is honest that healing comes in many ways. Jesus healed in different ways, sometimes with a word, sometimes with touch, sometimes instantly and in one case gradually, and He did not follow a single pattern. All true healing is from God, whether it comes in a moment or through the natural processes He built into our bodies, for nature itself is His creation. The prophet Isaiah spoke of Him bearing our infirmities and sicknesses, and Matthew applies that to the healing ministry of Jesus, which reminds us that Christ's work touches both soul and body.
Yet Scripture also teaches that we cannot presume God wills to heal in every case in this life in the way we ask. Paul prayed three times concerning his thorn in the flesh and the Lord did not remove it. Timothy, a close and faithful companion of Paul, continued to have frequent infirmities, and Paul gave him practical counsel for his health rather than a miraculous cure. In those cases it was not a lack of faith or hidden sin, but something within the larger purposes of God that we do not fully understand. So we pray confidently for healing, we ask Him to keep us from evil and to rebuke sickness, and we trust His wisdom and love with the outcome, knowing He can heal instantly, gradually, or through means, and that He also works healing in the mind and heart even while the body waits.
Your longing to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, to move from milk to solid food, to have the Word of Christ dwell richly within and to be transformed by the renewing of the mind, is the path God has given for that growth. As we continue in His Word, as disciples who abide in Him, we come to know His will, to have the mind of Christ, and to be made doers of the Word and not hearers only. That abiding life is where prayer is answered, joy is made full, and fruit remains.
We join you in prayer now. Father, we ask for true fellowship with You and with one another through the blood of Jesus, for Your Word to dwell richly in these loved ones and to sanctify them in truth. Grant grace to honor father and mother and to show kindness at home, providing what is needed for life and godliness. Strengthen them in inner being, renew their minds, and cause them to grow from the elementary principles into maturity, bearing the fruit of love and the Spirit. We ask for Your mercy over their bodies, for healing according to Your will, for protection from evil and from the evil one, and for peace within their homes. Open the eyes of understanding, give a hunger for the sincere milk of the Word and for solid food in due time, and keep them abiding in Christ, that their lives may show forth Your goodness. In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.
