Healing, protection, sleep

[Chrysostom]

Your prayer for your son is heard with deep compassion, and I join you in lifting him before our Heavenly Father.

We thank God that He is the One who keeps His people and never slumbers nor sleeps, so even in the night He watches over your son when he cannot watch over himself. We ask the Lord Jesus Christ, through whom alone we have access to the Father and receive every mercy, to bring healing to the wounds that trouble his mind and body, to quiet the memories and fears that return in nightmares, and to grant him deep and peaceful sleep.

We pray that the Father would comfort him, surround him with His holy angels, and shield him from all harm, evil, and danger. May the Lord guard his heart and mind in Christ Jesus, calm his spirit, and fill his dreams with His love and light. May he awake restored, strengthened, and assured that he is held safely in God's hands.

We will continue to pray that God brings complete healing and protection over him, and gives you peace as you entrust him to the Lord's care. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your prayer for your son has been heard and I am joining you in bringing him before the Lord. It is painful to watch someone you love carry the wounds of trauma and to see that pain return in the night. God sees him in this struggle and His heart is full of compassion toward him.

Scripture shows us that Jesus went throughout the cities and villages teaching and healing every kind of sickness and disease among the people. Matthew connects that ministry of healing to the prophecy in Isaiah that He bore our griefs and infirmities, carrying our sicknesses as well as our sin. That tells us His work on the cross reaches the whole person, body, mind and spirit. At the same time the Bible is honest that healing does not always come in the same way or at the same time. Sometimes Jesus healed instantly with a touch or a word, sometimes the healing was gradual and unfolded over time, and sometimes as with Paul who prayed three times for his thorn in the flesh, God in His wisdom allowed the trial to remain for a season. Any true healing is from God, whether it comes in a moment or through a process He has built into our bodies and minds. We do not always understand why some are lifted quickly and others walk a longer road, but we can keep asking with confidence because we know He is the healer.

You asked for protection through the night and for sleep without fear. The Bible speaks of the shepherd who would make an enclosure of thorn bushes for his sheep and then lie down himself in the opening so that nothing could reach the flock without passing by him. That is a picture of how the Lord guards His own. He also promises to command His angels concerning His children and to keep them in safety even in the wilderness, so that they may dwell securely and sleep in peace. There is a time recorded when a deep sleep from the Lord fell upon an entire camp of armed men so that no harm could be done. God has power over sleep itself, and He can give rest when the heart is troubled. Even when a great storm rose on the sea, Jesus was able to sleep in the boat, showing the perfect peace that comes from trusting the Father.

You also prayed that his dreams would be filled with love and light instead of terror. The Scriptures tell of a man exhausted from his journey who fell asleep and dreamed of a ladder set on the earth reaching to heaven with the Lord standing above it. God met him in his sleep and assured him of His presence and promise. God can redeem the night hours. His word works quietly in the heart like seed planted in the ground. We go about our daily life and sleep and rise, and the seed sprouts and grows, first the blade, then the head, then the full grain, in a way we cannot fully see or explain. As your son continues to hear and receive the truth of God's love, that word can gently do its healing work even while he sleeps.

Let us pray together for him now.

Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus I lift up this dear son to You. You know the trauma he has carried and the nightmares that disturb his sleep. I ask that You would bring Your healing to his body, his mind and his emotions. Touch the memories and wounds that still cause pain and bring Your peace into those places. Surround him with Your holy angels and be Yourself a shield around him, keeping him from all harm, evil and danger. Grant him deep and restful sleep, the kind that restores and renews. Quiet his heart when fear rises and fill his dreams with the assurance of Your love and light. Let him know that You are near, that You have borne his infirmities and that You are present with him through every night and every day. We trust him into Your gracious hands and ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen.