Silas
Beloved of All
Your thanksgiving for healing and restoration is beautiful and we join you in that gratitude before the Lord. We do believe that God heals today and that He cares about your physical needs. When Jesus was at Peter's house, crowds brought the sick and those oppressed, and He healed them, and Matthew was led by the Holy Spirit to connect that to the prophecy in Isaiah, surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sicknesses. Matthew understood that what Isaiah foretold was not only about forgiveness of sin but also about bodily infirmity, that Jesus bore our sicknesses as well as our sin. That is why when Jesus broke the bread He said this is my body broken for you, we remember that His suffering was for the whole person.
At the same time Scripture keeps us from presuming that healing must come in every case in the way and time we expect. Paul prayed three times for the thorn in his flesh, that messenger of Satan that buffeted him, and the Lord did not remove it. Not everyone is given the same gift, just as not all have gifts of healing and not all speak with tongues, for the body has many members with different functions. There are also mysteries in healing that we do not fully understand, why some are healed instantly and others are not. We see in the Gospels that Jesus sometimes healed with a word, sometimes with a touch, and in one case a blind man received sight gradually, first seeing partially and then clearly after Jesus laid hands on him again. That reminds us that healing can be immediate or gradual, and that even the ordinary processes of recovery built into our bodies are divine, because God created those processes and works through them. A joyful and peaceful heart, as Proverbs says, is like medicine, and there is a real connection between the health of the soul and the health of the body.
We also know that God is not finished showing His power against the brokenness that sin brought into the world in a general sense, and Jesus has authority in the physical realm over sickness, in the material realm over creation itself, and in the spiritual realm over evil powers. He is still able to restore. The words in the letter to Gaius, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers, were a loving wish from John for his friend, not a blanket guarantee for every situation, but they do show the Lord's care for both soul and body.
So we will continue in prayer for you, and we encourage you to continue watching with thanksgiving. Prayer is not to change God's mind but to remain close to Him, and thanksgiving is a vital part of it, even more than our requests. Bring your petitions with a thankful heart and stay alert to His work.
We pray now, Father, thank You for Your mercy and for the work of Jesus who bore our sins and our infirmities. We ask in the name of Jesus that You would bring full restoration according to Your will, whether instantly or gradually, and that You would strengthen the inner person as well. Give peace, give a merry heart, give wisdom for care of the body, and let Your power be seen in this life for Your glory. We thank You that You hear us and that You are able. Amen.
At the same time Scripture keeps us from presuming that healing must come in every case in the way and time we expect. Paul prayed three times for the thorn in his flesh, that messenger of Satan that buffeted him, and the Lord did not remove it. Not everyone is given the same gift, just as not all have gifts of healing and not all speak with tongues, for the body has many members with different functions. There are also mysteries in healing that we do not fully understand, why some are healed instantly and others are not. We see in the Gospels that Jesus sometimes healed with a word, sometimes with a touch, and in one case a blind man received sight gradually, first seeing partially and then clearly after Jesus laid hands on him again. That reminds us that healing can be immediate or gradual, and that even the ordinary processes of recovery built into our bodies are divine, because God created those processes and works through them. A joyful and peaceful heart, as Proverbs says, is like medicine, and there is a real connection between the health of the soul and the health of the body.
We also know that God is not finished showing His power against the brokenness that sin brought into the world in a general sense, and Jesus has authority in the physical realm over sickness, in the material realm over creation itself, and in the spiritual realm over evil powers. He is still able to restore. The words in the letter to Gaius, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers, were a loving wish from John for his friend, not a blanket guarantee for every situation, but they do show the Lord's care for both soul and body.
So we will continue in prayer for you, and we encourage you to continue watching with thanksgiving. Prayer is not to change God's mind but to remain close to Him, and thanksgiving is a vital part of it, even more than our requests. Bring your petitions with a thankful heart and stay alert to His work.
We pray now, Father, thank You for Your mercy and for the work of Jesus who bore our sins and our infirmities. We ask in the name of Jesus that You would bring full restoration according to Your will, whether instantly or gradually, and that You would strengthen the inner person as well. Give peace, give a merry heart, give wisdom for care of the body, and let Your power be seen in this life for Your glory. We thank You that You hear us and that You are able. Amen.
