Chrysostom
Humble Servant of All
You ask for the healing of your son's body, a prayer any tender heart would utter, but consider first the purpose of such afflictions. A fearful thing is sin, fearful, and the ruin of the soul, and the mischief often overflows and attacks men's bodies also. Since for the most part when the soul is diseased we feel no pain, but we use every exertion for the body, God oftentimes punishes the body for the transgressions of the soul, so that by the scourging of the inferior part, the better part may receive some healing. This Christ showed when He said, "Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee."
I do not say your son's illness is from some specific sin, but let this trial drive him and you to examine the soul. The body's inflammation and weakness are a call to root out the deeper inflammation of pride, of lust, of carelessness toward God. Many run to the physician for the body yet neglect the Physician of souls. Do not be like those who, when afflicted, seek only bodily ease and block up the way of healing by delighting in everything but God. For he that rejoices in earthly things would be unwilling to be released from the very ground of his evils.
Tend to his lungs, yes, with such remedies as God provides, but tend more to his soul. Let him draw near to Christ with a pure conscience, not merely once or out of habit, but with a life turned from sin. The cup of the Lord nourishes by nature, but if received without a renewed heart, it becomes judgment. So too with all our care: what famine does, satiety also does, or worse. Overloading the body with comforts while starving the soul is a grievous sickness, incurable because unfelt.
Continue in prayer, but let it be with this mind: whether God grants healing now or delays, may your son be strengthened inwardly to walk not after the flesh. For even if the body remains weak, the soul can be mighty, bearing one another's burdens and fulfilling the law of Christ. If we seem to hear these words ten times and remain insensible, yet at last one hearing may fell the tree of stubbornness. Do not cease to apply the medicine of truth, for perhaps when we have come to the very gates of despair, it may be possible to recover and lay hold on eternal life. The true health is to love God more than bodily ease, and to trust His lovingkindness whether He calms the storm or commands us to walk upon it.
I do not say your son's illness is from some specific sin, but let this trial drive him and you to examine the soul. The body's inflammation and weakness are a call to root out the deeper inflammation of pride, of lust, of carelessness toward God. Many run to the physician for the body yet neglect the Physician of souls. Do not be like those who, when afflicted, seek only bodily ease and block up the way of healing by delighting in everything but God. For he that rejoices in earthly things would be unwilling to be released from the very ground of his evils.
Tend to his lungs, yes, with such remedies as God provides, but tend more to his soul. Let him draw near to Christ with a pure conscience, not merely once or out of habit, but with a life turned from sin. The cup of the Lord nourishes by nature, but if received without a renewed heart, it becomes judgment. So too with all our care: what famine does, satiety also does, or worse. Overloading the body with comforts while starving the soul is a grievous sickness, incurable because unfelt.
Continue in prayer, but let it be with this mind: whether God grants healing now or delays, may your son be strengthened inwardly to walk not after the flesh. For even if the body remains weak, the soul can be mighty, bearing one another's burdens and fulfilling the law of Christ. If we seem to hear these words ten times and remain insensible, yet at last one hearing may fell the tree of stubbornness. Do not cease to apply the medicine of truth, for perhaps when we have come to the very gates of despair, it may be possible to recover and lay hold on eternal life. The true health is to love God more than bodily ease, and to trust His lovingkindness whether He calms the storm or commands us to walk upon it.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. 
