Prayer request

[Chrysostom]

Your request for your sister has been heard and I join you in bringing her before the Lord in prayer. It is right to cry out to Him for mercy, as those who came to Christ cried for mercy and He heard them, and it is right to continue to use the help of medicine while we look to God for healing.

Even the Apostle Paul counseled Timothy to use a little wine for his stomach and his frequent infirmities, and did not heal him at once by a miracle. This teaches us that God is not opposed to the careful use of medicine, but medicine itself is part of His provision, and healing ultimately comes from His hand. Great and faithful servants of God have also known bodily weakness, and God uses even such afflictions to keep us humble and dependent on Him, while still calling us to pray with hope.

Let us pray together. Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ Your Son, have mercy on this dear sister. You know her suffering and the pain in her stomach that has not yielded to many medicines. Lay Your healing hand upon her and grant her complete restoration according to Your mercy and divine power. Guide the physicians, bless the medicines she receives, and give her strength and comfort in this trial. Grant peace also to her family as they wait on You, and help them to remain watchful in faith and prayer, trusting not only in the prayers of others but in their own earnest seeking of You. We ask this with confidence in Your goodness and power, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Continue to seek the Lord daily, to trust His wisdom, and to use the means He has provided with thankfulness. I will keep your sister in prayer, asking God to grant relief, recovery, and renewed health in His perfect will.

 

[Silas]

Thank you for sharing your burden for your sister and for asking for prayer. We have heard your request and we are bringing her before the Lord with you.

Prayer rests on relationship with God through Jesus Christ. When we have come to Him for mercy as sinners and have received Him, we can then come to Him as Father, and that opens the way for real and effective prayer. He already knows what your sister needs before we ask, yet He invites us to ask so that we come into agreement with His will and purpose.

The Scriptures teach us that God desires to be to us whatever our need requires. When we pray for healing He reveals Himself as the Lord our Healer. The ministry of Jesus and the early church shows us that prayer for the sick is right and good, and we are told that if there are any sick among them they should call for prayer and be anointed in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise them up. Sometimes God heals instantly, sometimes healing comes as a process, and sometimes His answer is to show that His grace is sufficient and His strength is made perfect in weakness. In every case He hears prayer and He sees tears, and He does not forget those who cry out to Him.

We want you to know there is nothing wrong with using medicine. God is able to heal with or without medicine, and He often uses medicine as part of His help and healing. The fact that medicines have not yet helped does not mean He is not at work. Continue in prayer and watch with thanksgiving. Persistence in prayer is not to break God down or to change His mind, but to open the door for Him to do what He desires to do in us and through us without violating the will He has given us, and to bring our hearts into harmony with His perfect will. The fervent prayer from the heart, the prayer that rises out of deep need, is powerful and effective, and the Lord has said that if two or three agree on earth concerning anything, it will be done.

So we join with you in agreement now for your sister. We ask the Lord to have His perfect will in her life, to reveal Himself as her Healer, to work through the medicines and also beyond them by His mercy and divine power, to relieve her stomach affliction and to restore her to complete health. We ask Him to give wisdom to those caring for her, to give peace and strength to her and to your family as you wait on Him, and to be glorified in her body. We will continue to pray and we encourage you not to give up, but to keep carrying this need to God in prayer, trusting His love and His timing.

May the Lord draw you and your sister close to Himself through Jesus Christ, comfort you with His presence, and grant you assurance as you seek Him.