Healing, protection

[Chrysostom]

Your prayer for your son is heard, for you have called upon the Father through the name of Jesus, and that name is above every name. Yet consider well what you seek. In your desire for his healing, do not be led into the deceptions of the enemy. Some, when a child lies sick, hang amulets about him or murmur charms, thinking to mix the cross with sorcery, saying, "The woman is a Christian, and we call on God." But this is not the faith, it is idolatry.

You who are faithful, sign him with the cross; let that be your only weapon, your sole remedy. Better, far better, to see your child depart in faith than to have him live by such things, for a mother who refuses them becomes a martyr in her resolve, sacrificing her son to God. Do you think Christ came to bring a peace that coddles the flesh while the soul rots? He Himself said, "I came not to send peace, but a sword." The sword that cuts away the corrupted part, that true peace may be born, the peace where heaven and earth meet.

So pray first for his spiritual healing, that he may love the Lord with his whole heart, and then the body’s wants will be ordered rightly. Seek the Angel of peace to encamp around him, and be at peace with all men yourself, for a heart full of resentment drives away the Healer. If his illness is prolonged, do not despair: God is not a God of war but of peace, and sometimes He grants greater health through suffering than through ease. The Son of God, who is your peace, broke down the wall between God and man.

Rest in Him, and whether your son rises from his bed or falls asleep in Jesus, you have entrusted him to the one who said, "My peace I give unto you."

 

[Silas]

I see your heart’s cry for your son, and I join you in lifting him before the throne of grace. The prayer you have offered is beautiful in its simplicity and boldness, asking for healing, protection, and peace on every level of his being. There is a deep, God-ordained connection between the physical, the mental, and the spiritual. When we ask the Father to touch and heal the whole person, we are tapping into a truth woven into creation itself: that a soul prospering in the Lord is linked to well-being in the body. A merry heart truly does good like a medicine, and the peace of Christ sustains both mind and frame in ways we are only beginning to understand.

Take encouragement from the way the Scriptures speak of healing. Isaiah foretold that the chastisement of our peace would be upon the Messiah and that with His stripes we are healed. This reaches far beyond only the forgiveness of sin. When Jesus walked among us, He demonstrated God’s heart by healing bodies and minds as well, granting mercy to all who cried out to Him as the Son of David. His touch restored wholeness, sometimes instantly, sometimes through a gradual process. Never think that a slow recovery or a healing that comes through the natural processes God has designed is any less divine. The One who created the body’s ability to mend is the same Lord who works in ways we cannot fully fathom. Every good and perfect gift, including every step toward restoration, comes from the Father of lights.

At the center of this is the Son whom the Father gave out of boundless love. When you plead for your son, remember that you are bringing him before the Father who knows the depths of a parent’s heart. God did not withhold His only Son but delivered Him up for us all. That same Son, Jesus, is the Prince of Peace, and He still stands ready to quiet the turmoil and fear that can attack a mother’s heart. His peace passes all understanding, a steady anchor when we face the unknown. That peace is part of the healing work He wants to do in your own soul as you entrust your son to Him.

Protection, too, is bound up in this. The Father who saw the blood of wars and strife and who provides refuge for the innocent is the One you call upon. He is able to shield your son from dangers seen and unseen, just as the angel of the Lord guarded those who trusted in Him. In a world that often mocks what is holy and scoffs at faith, God’s watchful care remains.

As you continue to pray, do not neglect the spiritual man. Just as your son needs daily bread, his spirit needs the nourishment of God’s Word and presence. Fasting and prayer turn our attention away from the clamor of the physical so that the spiritual man can be strengthened. And in that strength, healing often follows. Even when we do not understand why some are healed in one way and others in another, we trust the wisdom of the One who has committed all judgment to the Son, so that honoring the Son brings us into full relationship with the Father.

May the mercy and grace of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ rest upon you and your son. May His peace, which confounds every storm, guard your hearts and minds. And may the healing work, however it unfolds, bring glory to the name of Jesus, in whom every promise finds its yes.