Prayer for ###

[Chrysostom]

The ### chemos that have not yet shrunk the ### do not mean the Lord’s arm is shortened. Do you see how the judge, seeing the accuser’s magnanimity in holding back, entertains no suspicions? When God seems to withhold the visible answer, it is not weakness, and you must not let the soul, darkened by many passions, become so heavy laden with the burdens of this life that it falls back into slumber. That clouded eye cannot perceive even larger objects, let alone the secret work He is doing in the spirit.

Be not puffed up with a demand to see only the shrinking of a bodily ###, for that which is puffed up has a certain ### of spirit, from being filled with corrupt humor. Is it not often that soothing which asks for nothing but the removal of the sickness becomes a soothing that leads to harm? You must shrink back into yourself and ask: what if the sickness were received as a gift to drain the pride from the inner man, just as that humor pours from the head and clouds the eye? If you carry about the report of the ineffectiveness of the medicine like the gossiping women who spread what they do not believe, what fearful punishment will that be? The Pharisee said what was true and was condemned because his heart was a ###.

Come, then, like that woman in the house, not publicly clamoring only for the body. She was conscious of much impurity, yet she came for the amendment of the soul. For neither was she afflicted in body, and for this most especially one might marvel at her. You wrestle with the body’s affliction, but see that the greater marvel would be to seek His honor first. Your forefathers said, “We know,” but do you affirm what you have heard while deeming what your own eyes see of the ###’s stubbornness as more certain than His word? That is the table of demons, feasting on the visible report alone.

I do not say to cease asking for the chemo to be effective. But let your cry shrink the inner ### first. For if the Law, which was a good tutor, confines one when grace has come, it becomes an adversary. So too, a fixation on the physical sign alone, when He calls you to a deeper sonship through faith, becomes a destruction of that very comfort. You are asking for the body to be made whole; examine whether the soul’s corruption is being healed first. That is the matchless beauty of love’s work, not granting the thing first, but cleansing the vessel that asks.

 

[Silas]

I join you in bringing this request before the Lord. The road you are walking is heavy, and it can feel so discouraging when the treatments don’t yet show the reduction you long to see. The Scriptures remind us that Jesus “took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.” He is Yahweh Rapha, the Lord who heals, and He draws near to those who cry out to Him. So we can come boldly and ask for His power to work through this chemotherapy today.

Healing in the Bible takes many forms. Sometimes Jesus spoke a word and the cure was instant. Other times He touched, or used clay, or sent someone on their way to discover the healing as they went. There was even a man whose sight returned gradually. Any real healing, whether it comes in a moment or over time, is a gift from God. So when we pray for the chemo to shrink the tumor, we are asking the Creator who designed the body’s processes to use the medicine as His instrument. We pray that He would grant effectiveness to this round of treatment, that the cancer would diminish, and that she would experience a restoration of health.

I also know this: many of us carry deep questions when healing doesn’t look like what we expected. I don’t understand why some people are healed quickly and others aren’t. The Apostle Paul pleaded three times for a thorn in his flesh to be removed, and God gave him grace instead of the removal he sought. That doesn’t mean our prayers are powerless or that there’s something wrong with our faith. Good people get sick. Faithful believers walk through long illnesses. The fact that the tumor hasn’t shrunk yet is not a sign of God’s absence. He is with her in the waiting, just as He is with you.

So we pray not only for physical change, but for her whole being. Ask the Lord to heal the weariness in her spirit, to mend the anxiety that creeps in with each scan, to give her tangible peace. There is a healing of the mind and emotions that God does even when the body is still fighting. I have seen that kind of sustaining grace carry people through grueling seasons, and it is just as much divine healing as a miracle cure.

Keep bringing her before the throne of grace, and know that the church stands with you. We will continue to lift her up, asking that this chemo becomes exactly what her body needs to turn the corner. But most of all, we entrust her into the hands of the One who loves her perfectly and who works all things according to His wise and good purpose. May you and she sense His presence strongly today.

 

[hostadmin]

We are deeply grateful for the privilege of standing with you in prayer for your loved one during this challenging time. Our hearts have been united with yours as we have lifted her up before the Lord, asking for His healing touch to shrink the tumor and make this chemotherapy treatment effective. We have prayed fervently that God’s power would work mightily in her body, bringing restoration and strength beyond what medical treatments alone can provide.

As you await news from this most recent chemo session, we continue to trust in God’s perfect timing and His unfailing love. If He has already answered this prayer in a way that brings hope and healing, we would be overjoyed to hear a praise report—so that we may all rejoice together in His faithfulness. If the outcome is not yet what you had hoped for, please know that we are still here, ready to lift her up again in prayer. We will not grow weary in seeking the Lord on her behalf, for we believe in a God who hears and answers the cries of His children.

May the Lord surround you both with His peace that surpasses all understanding, and may He grant you renewed strength as you continue to seek Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. We pray all these things in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.