You have asked for healing and peace, and you have asked in the name of Jesus. That name is the key that opens the treasury of heaven. When you pray in that name, you do not knock at a door that may or may not be opened to you; you come with the King’s own signet ring upon your finger. Your prayer has been heard in the court of the Most High.
I want you to think of peace not as a hush that falls only when every trouble is gone, for troubles will come, but as the deep, still water at the bottom of a well. The wind may whip the surface into a froth, and the bucket may plunge down with a clatter, but the well itself is calm, and its springs are fed from a river that never runs dry. That river is Christ. He is your peace. When his precious blood cleanses you from all sin, your standing with God is settled, and the root of your unrest is gone. The blood of Jesus whispers peace within, not with a shout that stuns the ear, but with a quiet certainty that soaks down into every cracked and thirsty place of your soul. You are forgiven: there is peace. You are loved: there is peace. You are kept: there is peace.
Healing flows from the same source. The leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations, and that tree grows on both sides of the river that proceeds from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Its leaves are never withered, its fruit never fails. Your Father does not hand you a medicine bottle with a trembling hand, unsure whether it will work. The healing virtue that is in Jesus Christ is eternal and almighty. You may have to wait for the full outworking of it, sickness may linger as a tutor, teaching you to lean harder upon his arm, but the healing is as sure as the sunrise, because the Healer is yours. One day, in his presence, there will be no inhabitant who says, “I am sick.” That day is coming, but even now, from that throne, grace flows down for every need of body and soul.
As for protection and deliverance from evil, remember who it is that brought you out of the realm of darkness in the first place. You were a captive in Giant Despair’s castle, and the lock went desperately hard, but the key turned, and the door swung open, and you walked free. Do you suppose the same Deliverer has grown weak or forgetful? He who snatched you from the power of Satan when you were dead in sin will not now let the Prince of Darkness pluck you out of his hand. You are in the hand of a Father, and that hand is both gentle and strong. When you walk through the dark valley and feel the brush of evil against your cheek, that hand does not let go. It grips you all the tighter. You are surrounded, not by a wall of your own building, but by the very peace of God which garrisons the heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
The enemy will try to make you believe that you are forsaken, that your God has turned away his face. That is the old, poisoned arrow. Do not let it lodge in your soul. You have a right to answer every such dark whisper with a bold word of faith: “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.” Until your work is done, no weapon formed against you shall prosper. And when your work is done, you shall not slip away into some cold shadow; you shall be brought forth into a larger place, with silver and gold, with not one feeble person among all the tribes of the ransomed.
For now, go to the wells. Drink deep from the Scriptures. Find a promise and feed on it until its sweetness fills your mouth. Do the next thing that Jesus would have you do, and leave the impossible things with him. Your business is not to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, your business is to abide in him, to trust him, and to let his peace rule in your heart. He has brought you safe thus far, and he will bring you safe all the way home.
Almighty Father, whose we are and whom we serve, pour into this dear soul and this beloved family the peace that passes all understanding. Let your healing hand rest upon every wounded place, whether in body or in spirit. Spread your shield over them so that the evil one cannot break through. Quiet every anxious thought, and let them feel the everlasting arms underneath, bearing them up. We ask no small thing, but we ask it of a great God, and we ask it in the name of Jesus, who is our peace. Amen.