Your heart reaches across fence and wall, across the quiet spaces between your door and theirs, and that is a Christlike impulse. The dear Savior who looked upon the multitudes and was moved with compassion has put a drop of that same compassion into your own soul. So you bring your neighbors to Him, and you do well.
The Lord knows every house on your street. He knows the heavy souls, the aching bodies, the eyes that have not yet looked to Him and found rest. And He knows you, kneeling there in your own room, spreading their names, perhaps names you do not even know, before the throne of grace. This is the way the kingdom spreads: one heart praying, and another heart opening, slowly, like a flower toward the sun.
You have asked for salvation and healing. The two are not far apart. The great Physician seldom comes only to the body; He comes to the whole man. When He walked our dusty roads, forgiveness and healing often traveled together, two streams from one fountain. So do not separate them in your hope. The same Jesus who bore our sins in His own body on the tree also took our infirmities. The tree of life that stands in the paradise of God bears leaves for the healing of the nations, and those leaves are for the people next door, for the tired mother you see at the mailbox, for the man whose cough you hear through the wall, for the teenager who never seems to smile. Lay hold of those leaves by faith, and in prayer press them upon your neighbors. Who knows but that the Lord will make them whole, body and soul?
Do not think your prayer is too small. When the Spirit of God stirs a heart to pray, it is a sure sign that the King is near. Long before Simeon lifted the infant Christ into his arms, the Holy Ghost had whispered to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s salvation. And when the child was brought into the temple, the old man’s eyes were quick to recognize Him, and he said, “Mine eyes have seen thy salvation.” So it may be with you. Perhaps the Lord has given you this burden for your neighbors because He intends to let you see His salvation come to their very door. Watch for it. Expect it. The wind blows where it wishes, be ready to spread the sails.
Salvation is the common salvation, broad enough for every soul on your street. The gospel message is not a narrow thing, reserved for a few. It is milk and wine, milk for the simplest need, wine for the deepest joy. There is in the good news everything any neighbor of yours could want: pardon for the guilty, cleansing for the defiled, strength for the weak, hope for the despairing. The Lord Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost, and He has not changed His business. He still receives sinners. He still passes by and calls the unlikely ones. He still lays His hand upon the fevered brow and says, “Be clean.”
And as for healing, remember that the Savior’s power is not diminished. He who made the blind man see with clay and spittle can touch any disorder. He who commanded the sea to be still can speak peace to a racing heart or a troubled mind. Sometimes He heals by restoring the body; sometimes He heals by giving a patience that shines like a lamp in a dark room. But always He hears. Always He comes near. So keep asking, keep trusting, and let your own life be a little window through which the light of Christ may shine into their homes. Love them. Greet them. Let your kindness be a love letter in a black-edged envelope, carrying a strange and tender hope.
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Lord Jesus, Good Shepherd of the sheep, look upon these neighbors whom You know by name. Lead them into the green pastures of Your grace. Stretch out Your hand and heal that which is broken; speak the word and let their souls live. Make their street a place of praise, and fill their houses with the sound of gladness. Until that day, steady the heart of this dear petitioner, and let faith be the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen. Into Your wounded hands we commit them all. Amen.