Prayer Request

[Chrysostom]

Your request has been heard and I am praying with you in this very difficult season. To suffer severe migraines and vomiting while carrying so many responsibilities for work, interviews, assignments and family needs is a heavy burden, and it is right that you have brought it to the Lord.

I pray that the Lord who desires to heal and restore will have mercy on your body. He heals in many ways, sometimes by His word alone and sometimes through the care of physicians and other means, but His compassion toward those who suffer is constant. I ask the Father to heal you completely, to strengthen your body, to give you relief from pain and sickness, and to renew your strength day by day. May He grant you peace in the midst of discomfort and help you to care for your body for health and not merely to endure, trusting His wisdom in how He brings healing.

I also pray for grace and clarity as you face all that is on your plate. Do not become discouraged or dull in heart under the weight of these pressures. God sees your diligence and your desire to be faithful. I ask Him to give you wisdom to manage each task, to order your time, and to sustain you with His peace. May He grant you favor with your bosses, colleagues and interviewers, and make a way through every difficult situation before you.

For your financial needs I join you in asking the Father for provision. He knows your rent, your daily expenses, your family's cost of living and your mother's bills. Just as He did not overlook the multitude who had been with Him for three days and had nothing left, He does not overlook your need now. I pray He will open doors of opportunity, provide work and resources, and bring the breakthrough you need according to His goodness and perfect will.

May the Lord carry you through this season, strengthen you, provide for you and keep you close to Himself. I pray all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, our only hope and Savior, who alone brings salvation and life. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your honest prayer has been heard and I have been praying for you in these heavy days of sickness and pressure. To be suffering with severe migraines and vomiting while carrying interviews, assignments, work commitments and the weight of providing for your family and your mother is a great burden, and it is right to bring it all to the Lord as you have.

I want you to know that God cares about your body as well as your soul. The Scripture in Isaiah says surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, and the word there can be understood as infirmities and sicknesses. Matthew takes that same prophecy and applies it to the healing ministry of Jesus, when he healed the leper, the servant of the centurion, the mother in law of Peter, and multitudes who were brought to him in the evening with sicknesses and oppression. He had power in the physical realm and in the spiritual realm, and he went about doing good and healing all manner of sickness. When Jesus broke the bread and said this is my body which is broken for you, he was pointing to a provision that covers more than forgiveness alone. God even made a place in the law for the leper in the day of his cleansing, though leprosy was incurable by human means. He left room for himself to work a miracle. We should never put God in a box. We should always give allowance for him to work as he desires, whether instantly or gradually.

At the same time the Bible keeps us from presuming that God wills healing in every case in the way and time we ask. The apostle Paul prayed three times concerning his thorn in the flesh, and the Lord did not remove it. There is much about healing that we do not understand. Why some are healed and others are not healed is not clear to us. Any healing is divine, whether it comes in a moment through a touch or a word, or gradually through the healing processes God has built into our bodies, or through the care of doctors and medicine. It is wrong to say that if you are not healed it must be because of sin in your life or lack of faith. That is like the friends of Job and it is not scriptural. Healing is not confined to one pattern. One person in the gospels was healed gradually, and that is the only gradual healing recorded in the ministry of Jesus, while many others were healed instantly. The Lord is not limited to a method.

I believe God is able and that healing is still for today, but I do not believe in chasing sensationalism or frenzy. The early church simply brought the sick to the apostles and the elders prayed for them according to the Scripture, quietly trusting the Lord. I encourage you to ask mature believers and elders to pray for you, to continue to seek wise medical help which itself is part of God's provision, and to rest when you can. Bring your need for peace and renewed strength to him. He promises peace that guards the heart and strength for those who wait on him.

I am also praying for your practical needs. The Lord knows your rent, your daily expenses, and your mother's bills. He knows what you need before you ask, and he is able to open doors of opportunity and to give favor with those in authority over you. At the same time his provision does not always come as a sudden breakthrough, and financial pressure has touched the people of God from the beginning. We can trust his care while we are faithful in what is before us, doing what we can with the grace he gives for each day.

Let me pray for you now. Father, in the name of Jesus I lift up this dear one who is sick and weary. Touch this body and bring healing according to your will, whether quickly or gradually, and use every means you have provided. Ease the pain and nausea, strengthen the body, calm the mind, and give deep peace. Renew strength and give grace to manage interviews, assignments and work with wisdom, and to fulfill responsibilities without being overwhelmed. Grant favor with bosses, colleagues and interviewers, and let your hand go before every difficult situation. Provide for rent, for family needs, for daily living and for the needs of a mother, and open the right doors in your perfect way. Help this beloved child to sense your nearness and to rest in your love and power. Amen.