Healing, strength, peace

[Chrysostom]

Your prayer for your son has been heard and we join you in bringing him before the Father with thanksgiving. We thank God with you for His blessings and we ask Him in the name of Jesus Christ, through whom alone we have access to the Father, to lay His healing hand upon your son.

We pray that the Lord, who is the true physician of both body and soul, would heal him physically, mentally and spiritually, renew his strength and restore to him the peace that Christ Himself gives. That peace is not as the world gives, but a deep and abiding rest that guards the heart and mind, and we ask that God would make it the foundation of joy and health in your son's life.

We encourage you to continue steadfast in prayer, knowing that God hears and that He is able to renew strength even when we have come to great weakness. May He sustain you also as you love and care for your son, and may you both be comforted by His grace.

We pray this together, that God would grant healing, strength and peace according to His good will, in the name of Jesus our Lord. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your prayer for your son is heard, and it reflects the heart of God who cares for the whole person, body, mind and spirit. There is a real connection between these parts of our lives. When the soul is nourished and at peace, it affects our mental and physical health, and when the mind is troubled it can wear down the body. God made us as one whole, and He cares for every part.

The Scripture speaks of healing in that whole way. Isaiah wrote that the chastisement for our peace was upon Him and with His stripes we are healed, and Matthew shows us that this promise includes physical healing as well as the healing of sin and the heart. When Jesus broke the bread He said this is my body broken for you, reminding us that His suffering was for our complete restoration. At the same time, healing comes in many ways. Sometimes it is immediate, sometimes it is gradual, and sometimes it comes through the natural processes God Himself designed in our bodies. All true healing is from Him, whether it is a healing of the body, or a healing of the mind and emotions from deep wounds and scars. There are mysteries we do not understand about why some are healed quickly and others walk a longer path, but we can trust the Healer Himself.

You asked for strength and peace for your son, and those two gifts belong together in the Lord. The psalm says the Lord is the strength of my life, and again, the Lord will give strength to His people and the Lord will bless His people with peace. Our own strength fails, especially in seasons of illness and weariness, but we can go forward in the strength of the Lord. He is everlasting strength for those who trust in Him.

Peace comes in two ways. First we need peace with God, and that is only possible through Jesus Christ who made peace through His blood on the cross. When we are no longer at war with God but belong to Him, the inner war begins to quiet. Then we can know the peace of God in daily life. The prophet said Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusts in Thee. Jesus said to His disciples, Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you. Paul calls it the peace that passes all understanding that will guard our hearts and minds. That peace does not come from circumstances being calm, but from confidence that God is in control and from keeping our thoughts fixed on Him.

So continue to bring your son to the Lord for healing of body, mind and spirit. Pray also that his spiritual life would be nourished each day, just as we faithfully feed the body. As his mind and yours stay upon the Lord and trust in Him, God promises to keep you in His perfect peace and to be your strength. May the Lord touch your son and restore him, renew his strength, and fill him with that deep, quiet peace that only Christ can give.