Spurgeon
Beloved of All
Your burden for your sister has been heard and we join you in carrying it to the throne of grace where our Lord delights to hear the cries of His people.
We are grieved to hear of her great affliction, the water gathered about her heart, the stubborn wound and infection which will not yield to common medicines, the swelling of her leg, the wasting of her strength and the pain and distress which keeps her confined. These bodily diseases are painful and they rightly urge us to seek the Physician, and we do well to bring them to Him who is able to heal both body and soul.
The Scripture tells us that the leaves of the tree of life were for the healing of the nations, and we have often observed that the least thing about Christ is healing. Not only His fruit but His leaves are full of healing virtue. There is an abundance of healing power in Jesus Christ and His salvation to change the lifeblood and make the nature other than it was before. And the prophet declares that when the Lord dwells with His people the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick, for pardon and healing are placed in happy conjunction. When Jesus healed the man taken with palsy He first said, thy sins are forgiven thee, to show that pardon and healing are one in His hand. He heals the broken in heart and binds up their wounds, and His Gospel carries healing power when Christ is taught and trusted.
We would gently encourage you to continue to pray not by speaking to the disease itself or by addressing spirits, but by humble petition to the living God who alone has power to heal. He is sovereign over all affliction and He often works through appointed means. We thank God for physicians and for hospitals, and we encourage your sister to allow the doctors to work for her mobility, to take the medicines given though they are difficult, and to labor through the pain as strength is granted. This is not a lack of faith but a proper use of the means God has provided, while we look to Him for the blessing upon those means.
We pray for her now to that end, that the Lord would be merciful to her.
O Lord our God, Father of mercies, we bow before Thee and ask for this afflicted sister. Thou knowest her frame, Thou seest the fluid about her heart, the infection in her blood and wound, the swelling and weakness of her limbs. Lay Thy hand upon her we pray. If it be Thy will, command health to return to her body, give skill to those who care for her, help her to bear the treatment and to find strength to move again. Above all, grant her pardon through the blood of Jesus Christ, for healing and forgiveness flow together from Calvary. Let Thy Holy Spirit work in her heart to trust wholly in Christ alone for salvation, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. Comfort her mind and will and emotions, keep her from despair, and give her hope in Thy promises. And grant to her loved ones faith to rest in Thy wise and loving purposes, knowing that Thy salvation will at last perfectly heal both soul and body for those who are in Christ.
We encourage you both to keep hearing the Word of Christ, for faith comes by hearing, and to tell your case plainly to Jesus as you would to a physician, trusting Him to do what is best. Whether He lifts her up speedily to walk again and to enjoy the pool as she desires, or sustains her through a longer trial, He is able to make her whole and to keep her to the end. May He raise her up, and may her healing, in whatever form He grants it, lead to service and thanksgiving to His name.
We will continue to remember her before the Lord.
We are grieved to hear of her great affliction, the water gathered about her heart, the stubborn wound and infection which will not yield to common medicines, the swelling of her leg, the wasting of her strength and the pain and distress which keeps her confined. These bodily diseases are painful and they rightly urge us to seek the Physician, and we do well to bring them to Him who is able to heal both body and soul.
The Scripture tells us that the leaves of the tree of life were for the healing of the nations, and we have often observed that the least thing about Christ is healing. Not only His fruit but His leaves are full of healing virtue. There is an abundance of healing power in Jesus Christ and His salvation to change the lifeblood and make the nature other than it was before. And the prophet declares that when the Lord dwells with His people the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick, for pardon and healing are placed in happy conjunction. When Jesus healed the man taken with palsy He first said, thy sins are forgiven thee, to show that pardon and healing are one in His hand. He heals the broken in heart and binds up their wounds, and His Gospel carries healing power when Christ is taught and trusted.
We would gently encourage you to continue to pray not by speaking to the disease itself or by addressing spirits, but by humble petition to the living God who alone has power to heal. He is sovereign over all affliction and He often works through appointed means. We thank God for physicians and for hospitals, and we encourage your sister to allow the doctors to work for her mobility, to take the medicines given though they are difficult, and to labor through the pain as strength is granted. This is not a lack of faith but a proper use of the means God has provided, while we look to Him for the blessing upon those means.
We pray for her now to that end, that the Lord would be merciful to her.
O Lord our God, Father of mercies, we bow before Thee and ask for this afflicted sister. Thou knowest her frame, Thou seest the fluid about her heart, the infection in her blood and wound, the swelling and weakness of her limbs. Lay Thy hand upon her we pray. If it be Thy will, command health to return to her body, give skill to those who care for her, help her to bear the treatment and to find strength to move again. Above all, grant her pardon through the blood of Jesus Christ, for healing and forgiveness flow together from Calvary. Let Thy Holy Spirit work in her heart to trust wholly in Christ alone for salvation, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. Comfort her mind and will and emotions, keep her from despair, and give her hope in Thy promises. And grant to her loved ones faith to rest in Thy wise and loving purposes, knowing that Thy salvation will at last perfectly heal both soul and body for those who are in Christ.
We encourage you both to keep hearing the Word of Christ, for faith comes by hearing, and to tell your case plainly to Jesus as you would to a physician, trusting Him to do what is best. Whether He lifts her up speedily to walk again and to enjoy the pool as she desires, or sustains her through a longer trial, He is able to make her whole and to keep her to the end. May He raise her up, and may her healing, in whatever form He grants it, lead to service and thanksgiving to His name.
We will continue to remember her before the Lord.
