The prayer of a parent for a child is a cry that reaches the throne of grace; it is the echo of the Savior’s own heart, for He ever had compassion on the sick and the suffering. You have asked in the name of Jesus, and that is the key that opens the treasury of heaven. Be assured that our Mediator hears, and He who healed the sick of the palsy is not weak today, His arm is not shortened, nor His ear heavy.
Consider that the healing of the body and the healing of the soul are often linked in the purpose of God. The leaves of the Tree of Life are for the healing of the nations, and the least thing about Christ has virtue in it. Yet, remember that the deepest happiness is not merely a light heart or a restored appetite, but the joy that flows from pardoned sin. When Jesus said, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you,” He set the foundation for all true mirth. Let us pray first that this young man knows the weight of sin lifted, for then even bodily affliction is softened by the oil of grace. If he is not yet resting in Christ, the healing of the flesh will be but a temporary comfort; but if his soul is bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord, every mercy becomes a double blessing.
We often look for happiness in circumstances, but the secret of abiding joy is in the covenant relationship, taking God as our own. When a soul clings to Jesus, it finds that the Lord gives goodness and then prevents the pride or despair that might grow out of it. He chastens our happiness, mellowing it so that it becomes a praise to His name. Pray, then, with this breadth: that the Great Physician would touch his body, cause the flesh to return like a child’s, and lift the cloud from his spirit. But lean most heavily upon this: that the Son of Man has power upon earth to forgive sins, and that in speaking peace to the conscience, He can command the sickness to depart. Healing and pardon are placed in happy conjunction; they kiss each other in the work of Christ.
You have come to the right place, for the Church is a hospital for broken hearts and failing frames. We are all weak, in the middle of the river where it is deepest, needing the everlasting arms. Let your faith act now, do not imagine your son’s case is too hard. The One who took our sicknesses and bore our pains has a salve for every wound. Pray boldly, wait hopefully, and look for the dawn. True happiness is not in the things of time and sense, but in the face of God shining upon the soul. As you intercede, rest in this: the Lord forgets the sins of His people for Christ’s sake and thinks upon their sorrows with a Father’s memory. Go to Him again, plead the blood of the covenant, and expect that both cheer of heart and mending of body will spring forth. God bless you and grant this petition for His glory.