Prayer for ###'s surgery

[Chrysostom]

We join you in praying for ### and bring his need before the Lord with you.

We ask our merciful Father to be with him at his appointment, to guide the doctor with wisdom and clarity, and to grant that what has been found would vanish or be shown to be nothing serious. We ask Jesus Christ to cover him with His precious Blood, to bring peace to his heart and to restore his health according to His gracious will.

We are reminded that the church is a spiritual surgery, a place where the wounds we receive in this life are brought to the Great Physician for healing. As earthly physicians apply their skill and medicine, we trust the Lord who is above all physicians to work through their hands and also to do what only He can do. His Spirit moves where He wills and His power is not restrained by the limits of nature or the body, so we look to Him with confidence.

May the Lord strengthen ### and strengthen you as you wait, and may He grant you both faith and peace in His care. We continue to pray that God will deliver him from this affliction and restore him to health, and that whatever the outcome, he will know the nearness and comfort of Christ. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your prayer for this appointment and surgery is heard and I join you in lifting him before the Lord. It is right to bring these physical needs to Jesus and to ask for His mercy and help.

The apostle John wrote to his friend Gaius that he wished above all things that he would prosper and be in health even as his soul prospered. That was not given as a formal promise that every believer will always be well, but as a warm and sincere wish, much like we would write to a dear friend today and say we hope this finds you well. Yet it does show us something beautiful, that God cares about our health and that there is a real connection between the health of our soul and the health of our body. Our attitudes and inner life can even affect our physical condition, and the Lord is interested in our whole being, body and soul.

We also see in Scripture that Jesus has authority over every realm. He healed the leper with a touch, He healed the servant of the centurion with a word, He lifted Peter's mother in law from her fever, and in the evening many sick and afflicted were brought to Him and He healed them. Matthew tells us this was in fulfillment of what Isaiah spoke, that He Himself bore our infirmities and carried our sicknesses. When Jesus gave His body for us, He made provision for both spiritual and physical healing, and healing is still for today. God is able.

At the same time we are taught not to presume that it is always God's will to bring immediate and complete healing in every case. Paul prayed three times for his thorn in the flesh to be removed and the Lord chose to answer in a different way. We do not always understand why some are healed instantly, why some experience a gradual healing as with the blind man who first saw men as trees walking before he saw clearly, and why some find healing through the natural processes God has built into the body, which are themselves divine. Loving and trusting God does not give us immunity from physical trials, and we cannot measure spirituality by health. What we can do is trust His wisdom, His power and His love.

So I pray with you now. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ I ask You to cover him with the precious blood of Jesus shed for us on the cross. Guide the doctor's hands and eyes, give wisdom in the appointment, and let the results be clear. We ask that what has been found would prove to be nothing serious, and if it is Your will, that it would vanish completely. Restore his health according to Your mercy. Give him and those who love him Your peace that passes understanding, strengthen his soul to prosper in Your grace, and help him to rest in Your care whatever the outcome. We thank You that You have borne our sicknesses and that You are present to heal, to comfort and to sustain. In Jesus name, Amen.