You feel it, don’t you? The weight of everything at once, body, soul, work, the future, the ache for a helpmate, the simple desire to have teeth that don’t trouble you and a leg that bears you up. And underneath all of it, that cry: I need more than ever the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the truest thing you have said, and I would not have you unsay it for the world. You have come to the right Physician, and you have come in the right posture, flat on your back, if I may speak plainly, with no strength of your own left to boast of, looking up into His face.
I am glad you have asked for wisdom and strategy and blessing. But do you know what our Lord is most eager to give you? Himself. All those other mercies are the leaves of the tree, but Christ is the fruit, and the leaves are for the healing of the nations only because the tree itself is Christ. You are not coming to a reluctant banker who must be coaxed into approving a loan. You are coming to the Good Physician who made a specialty of attending to people with complicated cases. Luke tells us that the power of the Lord was present to heal. That power has not ebbed away with the passing of the centuries. It is present now, in your room, as you read these words.
Now, when a man brings a long list of needs, the tempter will whisper, “You are too much trouble. Simplify your prayers. Sort yourself out.” Do not listen to that for a moment. Our Lord never complained that a sick person had too many symptoms. He did not tell the paralyzed man, “Pick one limb and I’ll see what I can do.” He dealt with the whole man. And notice what He did first for that poor soul who was let down through the roof: He forgave his sins. Not because the man’s body didn’t matter, but because the root must be set right before the branches can flourish. You have asked that everything be for God’s glory. That is the very heart of the matter. When the iniquity is pardoned, the inhabitant of Zion is already on the road to every other healing.
As for your body, the tooth, the eye, the leg with its mysterious lump, do not think these are trivial to Him who made you. The One who will one day make all things new has already given us tokens of His tenderness in the healing leaves from the tree of life that line the river of grace. Sometimes He heals with a word and the pain vanishes like mist. Sometimes He heals by drawing near to the soul with such sweetness that the body’s trouble becomes strangely bearable, a black-edged envelope containing a love letter. It may be that He will touch that upper wisdom tooth and the ball on your thigh and the deep ache in your pelvis, and you will rise up whole. It may be that He will give you something better still: such a discovery of His own loveliness that you will hardly remember whether you were sick or well. Either way, He is no stranger to broken bodies. He wore one Himself.
I hear you also about a wife and a family. That is a holy longing, and you do right to bring it before the Lord. But here I would have you do business with God in a spirit of sweet surrender. The things we clutch at with desperate fingers so often crumble. The thing we place into our Father’s hand, with open palm, He often gives back to us twice over, as Job received in the end. Do not let the waiting embitter you. There are worse things than walking a stony path alone for a season, if Christ walks it with you. And you are not alone, for you have asked your brethren to pray, and we are doing so.
As for your business, your finances, your friendships, your sport, yes, every honest endeavor of a sanctified life is a stage on which the grace of God can dance. Do not permit your soul to be pulled down by the fear that these good things will prove as fleeting as morning mist. They may indeed shift and change; the moon waxes and wanes, and so do our circumstances. But see to it that your joy has its feet on the Rock of Ages, and then whether the tide comes in or goes out, you will not be moved. The Lord can anoint you with fresh oil even when the olive press of trouble is crushing hard. Your strength can be renewed, your bow can remain steady in your hand, not because you are clever or strategic, but because He is faithful.
Above all, take this to heart: your cry for more of Jesus is already the answer to your prayers. A man who knows his need of the Savior is a man to whom the Savior has already drawn near. The power of Christ in the gospel is not a destroying power; it is a healing power. He did not come to break the bruised reed but to bind up the broken-hearted. If you feel your heart to be bruised and broken by the sheer volume of your cares, then you are exactly the sort of patient He delights to visit. Lie still before Him. He knows what He is about. The cure may not come all at once, but the Physician is at the bedside, and His presence is the guarantee of your recovery.
Let me speak to Him for you, then, and let us leave our burdens at His feet:
O Lord Jesus, You who are the same yesterday and today and forever, look upon this dear soul who has cried out for You above all else. Come into the room where he sits, and let Your power to heal be present now. In Your own wise time and way, touch his teeth and his eyes, his leg and his stomach, and every hidden trouble of his body, for You are the Beloved Physician, and no case is beyond Your skill. Guide him in his work, in his finances, in every relationship, and in the holy desire of his heart for a godly wife and a home that honors You. Pour out wisdom and strategy and blessing in the measure that will most glorify Your name. But most of all, give him such a satisfying sight of Yourself that he will be able to say, whether in plenty or in want, “It is well, for Christ is mine.” We commend him to Your faithful keeping, in Your precious and holy name. Amen.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. 
