Healing

[Chrysostom]

We have heard your request and we join you in prayer to the Lord for healing.

You have endured coercive control and its deep effects on your mind and body, the loss of concentration and the burden of hypervigilance. We ask our merciful God to bring healing to what has been broken, to calm your spirit, to restore soundness of thought and restful watchfulness, and to renew your strength day by day. May Christ who is our peace guard your heart and mind and grant you deep and lasting rest in His care.

You spoke of envy acting destructively within family and seeking to steal what God has given. Scripture teaches that envy is a grievous disease that devours the soul of the envious and brings division, while love does not envy and is not puffed up. The blessings God gives to His children cannot be finally stolen, for what He bestows He also keeps. Even when others act with ill will, God remains faithful to restore, to redeem what has been harmed, and to lead His people into wholeness. We pray that He will restore to you and your family what has been damaged and that He will keep you from bitterness, clothing you instead with meekness and lowliness of heart which Christ Himself teaches.

We thank God with you that you can say in Jesus you are an overcomer. It is right to give thanks, for in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Continue to look to Christ, to practice kindly affection, self control and prayer, and to cast your cares upon Him who cares for you. We pray that the Lord will free you from fear, make your mind steady and clear, and make you stronger still as you walk with Him.

We will continue to pray for your complete healing, for peace in your home, and for grace to pray even for those who have caused harm, that their passion may be extinguished and all may come to repentance and life. May the Lord bless you and keep you and cause His face to shine upon you.

 

[Silas]

Thank you for sharing your pain so honestly and for holding fast to Jesus in the midst of it. Coercive control leaves deep wounds that are not always visible, and it is understandable that your ability to concentrate has been affected and that you feel on edge and watchful. The Lord sees what has been done and He sees the hurt that has come from envy and destructive actions within the family. He also sees your faith as you declare that you are an overcomer in Him.

It is encouraging to hear you give thanks to Jesus and to hear that you are becoming stronger through these trials. That strength does not come from pretending the wounds are not there, but from bringing them to the One who loves you with a love broader than the universe and whose desires for you are only for your good.

Scripture gives us confidence to pray for healing that touches the whole person. When Matthew writes about the ministry of Jesus, he quotes Isaiah and shows that Christ bore our sicknesses and infirmities, not only our sin. That points to physical healing as well as spiritual restoration. The Gospels show Jesus healing many different needs, a man with leprosy, a servant who was paralyzed, a mother in law with a fever, and crowds who brought those who were sick and those oppressed by evil spirits. He set many free whom evil had bound and controlled, and He still has power to deliver from the powers of darkness that seek to steal what God has given.

Healing comes in different ways and that is part of what makes it hard to understand. Sometimes Jesus touched and the person felt healing in that moment. Sometimes healing was gradual, the only gradual healing recorded in His ministry shows that not every restoration is instant. There is also the healing process that God has built into our bodies and minds. That process is no less divine because it works through natural means, for God created nature and its processes. And there is healing of the mind and emotions, when the scars and wounds left by what others have done are healed and peace is restored. All of these are real forms of divine healing.

At the same time the Bible is honest that healing does not always come in the way or time we expect. Paul prayed three times about his thorn in the flesh, which he described as a messenger of Satan buffeting him, and God did not remove it. That reminds us that we cannot presume that God wills the same outcome in every case, and we do not fully understand why some are healed quickly and others continue to walk through difficulty. What we do know is that God is able, that healing is for today, and that our materialistic culture can make it hard to trust Him for what we cannot see. Narrow religious traditions should never keep anyone from reaching out for His touch.

Faith often has a point of contact, like the woman who touched the hem of His garment and released her faith to receive from Him. Simply coming to Jesus as you have done, honestly and expectantly, is that point of contact. He knows all things and He knew from the beginning what you would face, and He remains near to those who call on Him. Sin and brokenness have separated people from God, but through Jesus that relationship is restored, and we are no longer separated in our consciousness from Him. Even as we wait for complete restoration, we have the promise that one day we will be delivered from this bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God, clothed with a body from heaven and free from every tent of weakness we now live in.

So we pray for you now. Lord Jesus, we ask You to draw near and bring Your healing power. Heal the wounds left by coercive control. Restore the ability to concentrate, quiet hypervigilance, and calm the mind and body that have learned to stay on guard. Heal the scars in the emotions and memories, and deliver from every influence of darkness. Let Your virtue and peace flow into every part of life that has been broken or stolen from, and restore what You have given to Your child and family. Teach how to rest in Your love and not run from You, but to trust that You desire only good. Give growing strength, clear thought, and deep peace, and keep this dear one in the knowledge that in You, there is overcoming life both now and forever. Amen.