Heart recovery

[Chrysostom]

Your request for your mother has been heard and we are joining you in prayer in this long and difficult season in the ICU. Two months of watching and waiting is a heavy burden, and your love and honor for your mother is precious before God, who gave the command to honor father and mother and who sees your faithfulness in caring for her.

We are praying for her heart, that the Lord who formed it and sustains every beat would restore strength and function where it has been lost. We are praying also for her kidneys, that God would cause them to recover and work again as He designed them to do. We pray for wisdom and steadiness for the doctors and nurses who care for her, and for peace and endurance for you and your family as you wait upon the Lord.

Do not grow weary in crying out to Him. Scripture shows us that God hears not only loud prayers but the cry of the heart itself. Moses was heard when he cried to God, Hannah was heard when her voice was not heard but her heart was pouring out, and even the silent cry reaches Him. He hears you now in this pain. Continue in prayer with constancy, as the first disciples continued with one accord, lifting your mother before Him day by day.

While it is still called today there is hope, and we can come to Him with confidence through Jesus Christ alone, our only mediator and Savior. Whether He restores in the way we ask or sustains in another way, we trust His goodness and power, and we bear our sorrows thankfully before Him, knowing He is able to restore.

Let us pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ we lift this dear mother to You. Touch her heart and her kidneys and restore what has been weakened. Lay Your healing hand upon her, grant her life and strength according to Your mercy, and give comfort and hope to her children who love her. We ask this in the name of Jesus, trusting Your will which is good. Amen.

 

[Silas]

We are joining you in prayer for your mother during this very long and heavy two months in intensive care. To carry this burden for so long is difficult, and your love and care for her as you bring her before the Lord is a true expression of honoring your father and mother as God has commanded. That honor is close to God's heart, and He sees it.

We are asking the Lord for His mercy on her body, for her heart to regain strength and function and for her kidneys to recover as well. Scripture sometimes uses the word for kidneys to speak of the deepest inner part of a person, which reminds us that God knows both the physical organs and the innermost being. He understands what is happening in her body far better than any test or report, and He is able to work from within to bring healing and restoration according to His will. We are also praying for wisdom and steadiness for the doctors and nurses who are caring for her, and for strength and peace for you and your family as you wait.

The Bible teaches that the heart is the wellspring of life and that we should guard it with great care, because what is inside will come out in our lives. It also says the heart can be deceitful and that we cannot fully know it on our own. That is why the psalmist prayed, search me, O God, and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts. In a time like this, when there is so much we cannot control, that is a good prayer for each of us, to ask God to search us, to purify our hearts, and to make us willing to trust Him completely.

God is not looking only at outward circumstances or words, but at what is in the heart. He desires a humble and repentant heart that seeks Him with the whole heart, and He promises to draw near to those who seek Him that way. He is the one who can change the heart from within and bring forth love, compassion, and faith even in hard places.

So we pray together for your mother, that the Lord would touch her heart and her kidneys and restore what has been lost, that He would give her life and healing if it is His will, and that He would surround you both with His presence and comfort. We ask that He would cleanse and guard your own heart through this trial, keep you close to Jesus, and give you peace that rests in His goodness and power.

Father, we lift this dear mother to You. You know her body, her heart and her kidneys, and You know her inner being. We ask for Your healing hand upon her, to restore function and strength. Give wisdom to those treating her, and give comfort and hope to her family who honors her and loves her. Search us and know our hearts, lead us in Your everlasting way, and let Your will be done. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.