Silas
Beloved of All
Your request has been heard and I am joining you in prayer for this dear one who needs healing and for his family in this very difficult time.
We bring physical needs to the Lord because He cares about them deeply. Jesus Himself showed this pattern. He never used His miraculous power to meet His own needs, but He freely used it to meet the needs of others. When He healed all who were brought to Him, Matthew tells us it was to fulfill what Isaiah had spoken, that He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. That prophecy is often limited to spiritual healing only, but Matthew applies it directly to physical healing as well. When Jesus broke the bread and said this is my body which is broken for you, He was pointing to a work that touches both soul and body.
I want you to know that I do believe God heals. I believe strongly in healing in all of its forms. Sometimes God heals in a moment in a way that can only be called miraculous. Sometimes He heals gradually through a process over time, and even that process is from Him and should be acknowledged as His divine work. There is only one record in the Gospels of a gradual healing, which reminds us that most of the healings Jesus did were immediate, yet God still works gradually as well. At the same time there is much about healing that I do not understand. I do not fully understand why some are healed quickly and others are not. If I were the one deciding, I would heal everyone, but I am not God and I must trust His wisdom and love. I have seen miraculous healings, I have seen gradual healings, and I have also seen those the Lord has called home. Our confidence is not in getting the answer we demand, but in knowing the Healer Himself and that His ultimate healing, the forgiveness of sin and eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ alone, is the greatest need for every person.
I am also praying for the family, because God places great importance on the family and on our responsibility to care for one another. Scripture teaches that if we do not provide for our own household we deny what we profess to believe. That care includes praying for daily bread and trusting God to provide it day by day, as He promises to do. In times like this the family of God is also meant to surround a family with love and support, the older as fathers and mothers and those of the same generation as brothers and sisters in all purity. You are not alone in this burden.
There is also a real connection between the health of the soul and the health of the body. The apostle John wrote his wish that his friend would prosper and be in good health even as his soul prospers. That was a loving wish, not a guarantee that every believer will always be well, but it does show the relationship God has made between inner peace and physical well being. Proverbs says a joyful heart does good like a medicine, and we now know how true that is. Fear, anxiety and bitterness can harm the body, while peace and hope in the Lord can strengthen it. So we pray not only for the body to be healed, but for the soul to be strengthened and encouraged in Christ.
Continue to bring him before the Lord in simple, believing prayer. Scripture invites the elders to anoint the sick with oil and lay hands on them and pray in the name of Jesus. There is no special power in the oil or in the hands themselves, but it gives a point where faith can be released and focused on the Lord who alone heals. Use the means God has provided, including the care of doctors, and trust that whatever healing comes, whether sudden or gradual, is from His hand.
May the Lord in His mercy touch this dear one with His healing power according to His perfect will, grant wisdom to those caring for him, and pour out His peace, strength and daily provision upon the whole family. May He draw each heart closer to Jesus through this trial and sustain you with the assurance that He is present and He cares.
We bring physical needs to the Lord because He cares about them deeply. Jesus Himself showed this pattern. He never used His miraculous power to meet His own needs, but He freely used it to meet the needs of others. When He healed all who were brought to Him, Matthew tells us it was to fulfill what Isaiah had spoken, that He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. That prophecy is often limited to spiritual healing only, but Matthew applies it directly to physical healing as well. When Jesus broke the bread and said this is my body which is broken for you, He was pointing to a work that touches both soul and body.
I want you to know that I do believe God heals. I believe strongly in healing in all of its forms. Sometimes God heals in a moment in a way that can only be called miraculous. Sometimes He heals gradually through a process over time, and even that process is from Him and should be acknowledged as His divine work. There is only one record in the Gospels of a gradual healing, which reminds us that most of the healings Jesus did were immediate, yet God still works gradually as well. At the same time there is much about healing that I do not understand. I do not fully understand why some are healed quickly and others are not. If I were the one deciding, I would heal everyone, but I am not God and I must trust His wisdom and love. I have seen miraculous healings, I have seen gradual healings, and I have also seen those the Lord has called home. Our confidence is not in getting the answer we demand, but in knowing the Healer Himself and that His ultimate healing, the forgiveness of sin and eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ alone, is the greatest need for every person.
I am also praying for the family, because God places great importance on the family and on our responsibility to care for one another. Scripture teaches that if we do not provide for our own household we deny what we profess to believe. That care includes praying for daily bread and trusting God to provide it day by day, as He promises to do. In times like this the family of God is also meant to surround a family with love and support, the older as fathers and mothers and those of the same generation as brothers and sisters in all purity. You are not alone in this burden.
There is also a real connection between the health of the soul and the health of the body. The apostle John wrote his wish that his friend would prosper and be in good health even as his soul prospers. That was a loving wish, not a guarantee that every believer will always be well, but it does show the relationship God has made between inner peace and physical well being. Proverbs says a joyful heart does good like a medicine, and we now know how true that is. Fear, anxiety and bitterness can harm the body, while peace and hope in the Lord can strengthen it. So we pray not only for the body to be healed, but for the soul to be strengthened and encouraged in Christ.
Continue to bring him before the Lord in simple, believing prayer. Scripture invites the elders to anoint the sick with oil and lay hands on them and pray in the name of Jesus. There is no special power in the oil or in the hands themselves, but it gives a point where faith can be released and focused on the Lord who alone heals. Use the means God has provided, including the care of doctors, and trust that whatever healing comes, whether sudden or gradual, is from His hand.
May the Lord in His mercy touch this dear one with His healing power according to His perfect will, grant wisdom to those caring for him, and pour out His peace, strength and daily provision upon the whole family. May He draw each heart closer to Jesus through this trial and sustain you with the assurance that He is present and He cares.
