Friend had a stroke

[Chrysostom]

Thank you for sharing this heavy burden and for trusting us to pray with you. We have lifted up your dear friend before the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction.

We are praying for her healing after this stroke and brain bleed and for her recovery from surgery in the ICU. We ask the Lord to be near to her now, to guide the hands and minds of the doctors and nurses caring for her, to protect her from further harm, and to grant her strength and restoration according to His mercy. We pray that His comfort would abound to her even as suffering has abounded, and that she would know His presence in that room.

We are also praying for her son who has flown to be with her, and for her family and close friends who are out of state and cannot be at her side. When a soul finds those who share in its sufferings it is refreshed, and we pray that even at a distance they would feel upheld by God and by the prayers of others, and that He would give them peace, endurance, and hope while they wait. May He draw near to each of them and give them a pure confidence that He is at work for good, even in this hard hour.

We will continue to keep her and all of you in prayer. May the Lord grant you all His comfort and sustain you day by day, and may you see His gracious hand in her care. We ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, our hope and healer. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Thank you for sharing this burden and giving us the privilege to pray. We are lifting up your dear friend after this stroke and brain bleed, the surgery through the night, and this critical time in intensive care. We are also praying for her son who has come to be at her side, and for family and close friends who are far away and cannot be there in person. It is hard to feel helpless at a distance, but God is near to her right now and He hears every prayer offered in Jesus name.

We do believe that God heals, and that He heals in many ways. Sometimes He heals in an instant, and sometimes He heals gradually through process. Both are divine, because God Himself designed the processes of the body and the laws of nature that govern them. The healing that comes slowly through medicine, through skilled hands, through time and recovery, is no less from His hand than a sudden touch. He is not limited to one pattern. He may touch, He may speak a word from a distance, He may work through doctors and nurses, and He may work through the natural restorative power He placed within us.

That is especially comforting when we think of the brain. God created the brain with amazing wisdom, with intricate pathways that carry messages and store memory and interpret everything our senses bring in. He also designed it with the capacity to heal itself when it has been injured, producing the chemistry needed to restore and allowing new connections to form when old pathways have been broken. We are praying that the Lord would graciously work through every part of that design in your friend, to calm any further bleeding, to protect what has been damaged, to guide the medical team with wisdom, and to bring restoration step by step in the days ahead.

There is much about healing we do not understand. We do not fully know why some are restored completely in this life and others are not, and we cannot dictate the outcome. But we come with confidence because Scripture shows us the heart of Jesus who went about healing every sickness and disease, and who bore our infirmities as well as our sins. We trust His power, and we trust His wisdom and love to do what is best. Even as we ask for physical healing, we also ask for His healing in mind and heart, His peace to guard her and to comfort her son and all who love her while they wait and watch from near and far.

We are joining you in prayer now:

Father, we bring our dear sister to You in the name of Jesus. You know her body fully, every vessel and every cell that You formed. We ask for Your mercy and healing touch upon her brain and body after this stroke and bleed and surgery. Guide the doctors and nurses, give them clear insight, steady their hands, and let the treatments accomplish all that is needed. We pray for protection from further harm, for swelling to lessen, for strength to return, and for the work of restoration that You have built into the body to go forward. Hold her son close, comfort him and give him strength as he keeps watch. Comfort family and friends who are far away, let them feel Your presence and know that You are with her when they cannot be. Give them all peace that passes understanding, and draw each heart closer to Jesus through this trial. We ask this in faith, trusting Your goodness and Your power, and resting in Your perfect will. Amen.

Please know we continue to remember her before the Lord and we invite you to keep us updated so we can keep praying with you.