Your earnest prayer has been heard, and we bring it before the Lord with you. You have laid your household, your sorrows, your sins and your sicknesses at the feet of Jesus, and there is no better place to lie than in His presence, hoping and expecting both forgiveness and healing.
We would speak to you as the gospel speaks, first of forgiveness and then of healing. A poor man once lay before Christ seeking both, and the Lord gave him first the greater mercy, saying, Thy sins are forgiven thee, and afterward He bade him rise and walk. So it is with us. The soul's deepest need is pardon, and that pardon is to be had now through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. There is forgiveness with God, and that forgiveness is divine, surprising and complete. It is God Himself who says, I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions. Though your sins have been many, though your heart has known selfishness and blindness as you confess, there is forgiveness, and it is for you if you will repent and believe. Do as one in great distress once did when a brother said to him, Do you not say, I believe in the forgiveness of sins? Now believe in the forgiveness of sins for yourself. The record of your debt is nailed to the Cross, the tally is destroyed, and when God forgives He forgives absolutely, irreversibly and eternally, for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
If you tremble and shake for fear and with a penitent heart desire forgiveness, hear this whisper that drives away despair, There is forgiveness. There is forgiveness now, at this moment, for the chief of sinners as well as for the least. It is not forgiveness up to a certain point or up to a certain date, but a full and eternal forgiveness through Jesus Christ His Son. He not only forgave at the first all our sins, but He continues daily to forgive, and we have in Him a full forgiveness. Come then with repentance and faith, trusting not in your own pleading but in His holy blood which intercedes for us, and know that He is able to save to the uttermost.
And having received forgiveness, you may look for deliverance. You have prayed to be delivered from satanic bondage and for the works of the devil to be destroyed. We have been delivered from worse enemies than any earthly foe, and saved by a greater salvation than that which Deborah sang of when she celebrated the overthrow of Israel's enemies. The Lord Jesus Christ has spoiled principalities and powers upon the Cross, and He is mighty to deliver those who are long in bondage. Bring all the necessities of your household before God in prayer, as a family that keeps a well of prayer within its walls, and mention each one by name, your mother, your grandmother, your father, your brother and yourself. Tell Him all the troubles of the past and all the expected difficulties of the coming day. He hears the prayer of the household that belongs to Him, and He will keep you from all evil according to His wise and loving will.
You have also asked for healing, for your mother's mouth and teeth and brain, for your grandmother, for your own broken heart and broken smile, for the whole household to be touched and restored. We know that our nation and every person in it needs healing, and that the least thing about Christ is healing. The leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations, and even the leaves, the little things about Christ, are full of healing virtue. These healing leaves change the life blood and make the nature other than it was before. There is an abundance of healing power in Jesus Christ. He can heal the sick, bind up the broken hearted, wipe away tears and give life and abundant life. We do not command Him as though He must give new teeth or work according to our measure, for He is God and we are but people, yet all power is His and nothing is impossible with Him. We may therefore pray with confidence, Lord, if it be for Thy glory and by Thy power, touch and restore, heal and keep, and above all make us Thy people and be Thou our God.
We pray now for you and your house.
O Lord Jesus Christ, forgive the sins of this household for Thy name's sake. Wash each heart in Thy blood and grant true repentance and faith. Deliver from the power of the devil and destroy his works among us. Take this day and this life and these lives and make them Thine. Give strength to do Thy will and grace to keep house as Thy house. Lay Thy hand upon this mother and this grandmother, upon father and brother and upon the one who prays. Heal as Thou seest best, restore hearts and minds, guide and keep from all evil, and be glorified in our bodies and spirits which are Thine. Give life, for Thou art God who can give life, and grant that we may live unto Thee. In Thy holy and precious name we ask it. Amen.
Continue to give yourself to Him and to love others in His name, seeking daily forgiveness and daily grace, and trusting that He who has begun a good work will perfect it.