Silas
Beloved of All
Your honest prayer has been received and taken to heart, and I have brought your needs before the Lord. I hear the stress you feel as you notice changes in your skin, the sagging and discoloration, the sense of gravity pulling, and the worry about aging before its time. I also hear your concern about the lump, the gall stones, and the trouble with your tooth. God sees all of these burdens, both the outward and the inward, and He cares for you wholly.
Scripture shows us that Jesus spent much of His ministry healing people. He healed the leper, the centurion's servant, Peter's mother in law, and multitudes who were brought to Him in the evening. Matthew connects that healing work to the prophecy in Isaiah that He has borne our griefs and infirmities, and the Gospels present Him as having power over sickness, over the material world, and over the spiritual realm. When we come to Him for healing, we come to One who is both able and compassionate, and who understands our infirmities.
At the same time there is much about healing that remains a mystery to us. I believe strongly that God does heal today, and that He can heal in many different ways. Sometimes the healing is immediate, sometimes it is gradual. The Gospels record one healing that happened gradually, and many others that happened in different ways, sometimes with a touch, sometimes with only a word, sometimes from a distance. He is not confined to a single pattern. And every process of healing that He has placed within our bodies is still divine, because He is the Creator of nature and of the processes of nature. Healing can come through prayer alone, and it can also come through the natural processes He established, through medical care, and through time.
We also do not fully understand why some are healed and others are not in this life. It is not scriptural to presume that God wills physical healing in every case. The apostle Paul prayed three times concerning his thorn in the flesh and the Lord did not remove it. Good people still suffer sickness, and that does not mean God is punishing them or that they lack faith. It is wrong to tell someone that their illness remains because of hidden sin or insufficient faith. Those explanations are like the comforters of Job, and they are not true to Scripture. We can trust God's love and power without claiming to know all His reasons.
For that reason I do not want to whip up false expectations or treat prayer as a technique, but I do want to pray with sincere faith for you, asking for God's mercy and His will to be done.
I have prayed for you that God would touch your body according to His wisdom and love. I have asked Him to bring healing to the lump, to the gall stones, and to the infirmity in your tooth, whether that be through a direct work of His hand or through the healing processes He has built into the body and through the help of physicians. I have also prayed concerning your skin, that if it be His will He would restore firmness and brightness and ease the distress you feel about premature aging. More than that, I have prayed that He would give you peace in your mind and heart, and heal any wounds of anxiety and stress that this has caused, for He heals not only the body but also the emotions and the inner person.
Continue to seek Him and to seek wise medical care as well, and if you have elders or trusted believers near you, invite them to pray for you as Scripture encourages. God is tender and compassionate toward those who come to Him, and even when healing comes slowly, He is present with you in the process. May you know His nearness, His comfort, and His power to do what is best for you in His perfect love.
Scripture shows us that Jesus spent much of His ministry healing people. He healed the leper, the centurion's servant, Peter's mother in law, and multitudes who were brought to Him in the evening. Matthew connects that healing work to the prophecy in Isaiah that He has borne our griefs and infirmities, and the Gospels present Him as having power over sickness, over the material world, and over the spiritual realm. When we come to Him for healing, we come to One who is both able and compassionate, and who understands our infirmities.
At the same time there is much about healing that remains a mystery to us. I believe strongly that God does heal today, and that He can heal in many different ways. Sometimes the healing is immediate, sometimes it is gradual. The Gospels record one healing that happened gradually, and many others that happened in different ways, sometimes with a touch, sometimes with only a word, sometimes from a distance. He is not confined to a single pattern. And every process of healing that He has placed within our bodies is still divine, because He is the Creator of nature and of the processes of nature. Healing can come through prayer alone, and it can also come through the natural processes He established, through medical care, and through time.
We also do not fully understand why some are healed and others are not in this life. It is not scriptural to presume that God wills physical healing in every case. The apostle Paul prayed three times concerning his thorn in the flesh and the Lord did not remove it. Good people still suffer sickness, and that does not mean God is punishing them or that they lack faith. It is wrong to tell someone that their illness remains because of hidden sin or insufficient faith. Those explanations are like the comforters of Job, and they are not true to Scripture. We can trust God's love and power without claiming to know all His reasons.
For that reason I do not want to whip up false expectations or treat prayer as a technique, but I do want to pray with sincere faith for you, asking for God's mercy and His will to be done.
I have prayed for you that God would touch your body according to His wisdom and love. I have asked Him to bring healing to the lump, to the gall stones, and to the infirmity in your tooth, whether that be through a direct work of His hand or through the healing processes He has built into the body and through the help of physicians. I have also prayed concerning your skin, that if it be His will He would restore firmness and brightness and ease the distress you feel about premature aging. More than that, I have prayed that He would give you peace in your mind and heart, and heal any wounds of anxiety and stress that this has caused, for He heals not only the body but also the emotions and the inner person.
Continue to seek Him and to seek wise medical care as well, and if you have elders or trusted believers near you, invite them to pray for you as Scripture encourages. God is tender and compassionate toward those who come to Him, and even when healing comes slowly, He is present with you in the process. May you know His nearness, His comfort, and His power to do what is best for you in His perfect love.
