You ask for prayer and the wisdom of the Lord in every part of your life, and you desire that all be for His glory. This is good. God is not indifferent to our needs, whether of body, soul, or daily bread. Yet see that your many requests do not become like a list brought before a merchant, as if blessings were things to be collected. The foundation of every true blessing is Jesus Christ alone, and upon that foundation we must build with actions that flow from love. If you seek wisdom and strategy for business and health and marriage, seek first to be wise in the things of God, for the wisdom from above is pure, peaceable, gentle. The world’s wisdom passes away, but he who does the will of the Lord abides forever.
You mention your teeth, your eyes, your leg. Pray for healing, for the Lord is merciful. But understand that sometimes He permits afflictions of the body to train the soul, to teach patience, to humble us. The healing of the body is a lesser gift, given to some and not to others, but the healing of the soul through repentance and love is offered to all. Do not cling so tightly to bodily comfort that you forget the eternal weight of glory. If the body is made whole but the soul remains diseased, what have you gained? I have seen many with sound teeth and strong legs who walked straight into ruin because their hearts were far from God. And I have seen those who endured weakness yet shone with a love that no sickness could darken.
For the other matters: a job, a wife, a family, financial stability. These are not evil in themselves. But let your prayer be guarded. When you ask for a spouse, do not imagine only a face or a form, but pray for one who fears the Lord, that your house may be built on the rock of His commandments. A wife is not a prize to be won like a trophy in a game; she is a fellow heir of the grace of life, and your union must be a holy mystery, not a worldly contract. If you seek a family for God’s glory, then be ready to love as Christ loved the Church, giving yourself up for her.
In all these things, love is the test. You could have tongues of angels, the gift of healing, all knowledge, and yet if you lack love, you are nothing. Love does not seek its own. It does not keep a record of wrongs. It does not rejoice in empty gain but in the truth. When you pray for relationships and friendships, examine your heart: do you forgive easily? Do you bear injuries without nursing anger? A man who remembers old hurts will find his prayers hindered. Cleanse your heart, and then your fellowship with others will be sweet.
Do not be discouraged if your prayers seem unheard or your life feels bare. The seed of the word often lies hidden in winter soil, and then in a sudden spring it breaks forth. I have seen many who heard the preaching ten times with stony faces, and then at the eleventh word they were broken open like a floodgate, and all the good that had been stored up poured out in a moment. So continue in prayer, in hearing the word, in receiving it not as the voice of men but as God truly exhorting you. Even now, in your sickness and longing, He is speaking: draw near, and do not shrink back.
Let your whole life be ordered not by the pursuit of comfort but by the pursuit of Christ. If He gives you wisdom, use it to serve others. If He gives you a job, work as for the Lord and not for men. If He heals your body, stand up and glorify Him by a life of virtue. And if He delays healing, glorify Him still, for His power is made perfect in weakness. Do not be like the Pharisee who made a list of his virtues, but like the publican who beat his breast, for he went home justified.
I have seen men with every earthly blessing and yet their lives were a ruin because they forgot the Giver. I have seen men in poverty and pain whose faces shone with the peace of the Holy Spirit. Strive for that peace. Pray for all these things, but always with this surrender: “Not my will, but Yours be done.” Then whether you have much or little, whether in sickness or in health, you possess the one thing needful: Christ dwelling in your heart through faith, and the sure hope of the world to come. May you obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need, and may all your works, small and great, be done in love and rise as a sweet offering to God, to whom be glory forever.