Healing, anxiety

[Chrysostom]

We thank God with you for His blessings and for the confidence that He hears our prayers, and we join you in asking for His mercy in Jesus name.

We pray for healing over your body and for deliverance from anxiety. Scripture teaches us that God is the true physician, and His healing treatment is applied through His word, through prayer, and through patient trust in Christ. He does not free us only from one care but establishes us in thorough security and liberty when we cast ourselves upon Him.

Anxiety can weigh heavily and disfigure the peace that God desires for you, but in Christ you can be rid of that anxiety and find rest. The Lord knows our frame, He sees our sickness and our fear, and He invites us to bring both to Him continually. As you seek Him, continue in careful hearing of His word and continual recollection of His promises, for this sustains fortitude and hope.

We pray now, Father God, we thank You for Your goodness and for hearing us when we call. We ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our only Savior, that You would lay Your healing hand upon this body according to Your will, restore health, and grant deliverance from anxiety. Give peace that guards heart and mind, replace fear with trust, and strengthen faith to rest in Your care. Help us to look not merely to what is before our eyes but to Your spiritual promises which are ever blooming and never fade. May Your will be done and may You be glorified in this life.

We will continue to pray with you for healing, peace, and renewed strength in Christ. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Thank you for sharing your prayer request and for your thankful heart. It is good to come to the Father knowing that He hears when we pray, and that He has shown us grace and mercy and peace through Jesus Christ.

I want to pray with you for both healing in your body and deliverance from anxiety, and to encourage you with what Scripture says about peace. The Bible speaks of two kinds of peace that belong together. First there is peace with God, which only comes through the blood of Jesus. He bore the punishment that was needed to make peace between us and God. When we trust in Him, the war is over. We are no longer running from God or fighting against Him. Then there is the peace of God, that steady, perfect peace that guards the heart and mind. God promises to keep in perfect peace the person whose mind is stayed on Him, because that person trusts in Him. Jesus said to His disciples, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. It is a peace that goes beyond human understanding, and the world cannot explain it. Anxiety often grows when our thoughts are pulled in many directions, but as we turn our minds toward the Lord and rest in the confidence that He is in control, He fills the heart with that quiet strength.

Scripture also shows that God cares about healing for the whole person. The prophet Isaiah wrote that the chastisement for our peace was upon Him and with His stripes we are healed. Some have tried to say this means only spiritual healing from sin, but Matthew, writing under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, applies that same prophecy to the physical healings Jesus did when He healed many who were brought to Him. When we remember the bread of communion, we remember His body broken for us. That reminds us His suffering covers both soul and body.

At the same time, the Bible keeps us honest about how healing comes. There is much we do not understand about why some are healed instantly and others more slowly. In the ministry of Jesus there is even one healing that happened gradually. I believe strongly that God heals, and that He heals in many ways. Sometimes it is immediate and miraculous, sometimes it is a gradual process, and sometimes it is through the natural processes of restoration that God Himself built into our bodies. All true healing is from Him, whether we recognize it as miraculous or as natural, because He is the Creator of those natural processes. He also brings healing to the mind and emotions, mending wounds and scars that cause inner turmoil.

There is a beautiful connection between the health of the soul and the health of the body. The apostle John wrote to a friend that he wished above all things that he would prosper and be in good health, even as his soul prospered. That is not presented as a guarantee that we will always be well, but as a heartfelt wish, and it points to something we are learning more and more, that our inner well being and our physical well being are closely related. Anxiety can affect the body in real ways, creating harmful effects. That is why it matters to feed the spiritual person and not only the physical person. We are careful to feed our bodies every day, but we can neglect the inner life. Through prayer and through staying in the Word, the spiritual person is nourished and strengthened, and that brings a settled peace that helps the whole person.

God desires you to live in peace. He extends that offer to those who are near and to those who feel far away, saying peace, peace, I will heal him. His wisdom from above is peaceable, and those who sow peace reap a harvest of righteousness. When we make peace with God through forgiveness of sins, His peace can then rule within us and help us walk in peace with others. Without Him there is no lasting peace, only the restlessness of a troubled sea, but with Him there is deep and beautiful rest.

So let us pray together. Father, thank You for Your blessings and for hearing our prayers. I ask in the name of Jesus that You would touch this dear one with Your healing hand according to Your perfect will and wisdom. Bring restoration to the body and bring deliverance from anxiety. Forgive sins, heal the heart, and let the peace of Christ that passes all understanding guard the heart and mind. Help the mind to stay upon You and to trust in You day by day. Nourish the inner life and let soul and body be strengthened by Your grace, mercy and peace. May Your will be done and may Your name be glorified through this life. Amen.