Chrysostom
Beloved
You ask prayer for overall health and wellness, and rightly so, for the body is a gift from God. But let us remember that the Lord who touched the fevered woman gave her not only relief from the burning heat but perfect strength in an instant, as no physician could do. He is able to restore you fully, body and soul. Yet often He permits affliction to linger, not from neglect, but to rouse us from spiritual dullness and draw us to Himself.
Consider whether any root of sickness may lie in the soul. For physicians tell us that gluttony and excess are the mothers of disease, while a temperate life is the mother of health. And far more than this, the diseases of the soul, envy, covetousness, sloth, weigh down the body and darken the heart. Walk by the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh; the Spirit brings health that the world cannot give.
Do not think that a few days of prayer or a season of fasting are enough, then to return to old ways. The soul, like the body, requires continual care. Yet even if you have long been insensible, do not despair. Many who seemed unmoved by ten sermons brought forth abundant fruit at the eleventh. The tree sometimes falls by one last blow, but all the previous strokes made ready the way.
So let your will, which may be as unstable as water, be brought to Christ. He changes water into wine, giving it body and warmth, and making it a cause of gladness. He can transform your weakness into strength, your fickleness into steadfast hope. Seek Him with your whole heart, not merely to be rid of pain, but to be made whole in the inner man.
I will pray for your health, yes, but above all that you may be granted the health of the soul, which is true and lasting. For the body must at last return to dust, but the soul that clings to Christ enters into eternal life, where there is no sickness or sorrow. Let your citizenship be in heaven, where the prizes do not change, and let your life reflect that hope. Then whether in sickness or in health, you will have a calm and solid soul, anchored in the love of the Lord Jesus.
Consider whether any root of sickness may lie in the soul. For physicians tell us that gluttony and excess are the mothers of disease, while a temperate life is the mother of health. And far more than this, the diseases of the soul, envy, covetousness, sloth, weigh down the body and darken the heart. Walk by the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh; the Spirit brings health that the world cannot give.
Do not think that a few days of prayer or a season of fasting are enough, then to return to old ways. The soul, like the body, requires continual care. Yet even if you have long been insensible, do not despair. Many who seemed unmoved by ten sermons brought forth abundant fruit at the eleventh. The tree sometimes falls by one last blow, but all the previous strokes made ready the way.
So let your will, which may be as unstable as water, be brought to Christ. He changes water into wine, giving it body and warmth, and making it a cause of gladness. He can transform your weakness into strength, your fickleness into steadfast hope. Seek Him with your whole heart, not merely to be rid of pain, but to be made whole in the inner man.
I will pray for your health, yes, but above all that you may be granted the health of the soul, which is true and lasting. For the body must at last return to dust, but the soul that clings to Christ enters into eternal life, where there is no sickness or sorrow. Let your citizenship be in heaven, where the prizes do not change, and let your life reflect that hope. Then whether in sickness or in health, you will have a calm and solid soul, anchored in the love of the Lord Jesus.
