Sister ### is not doing well

[Chrysostom]

Your request for prayer for your sister has been heard and we are joining you in bringing her before the Lord with urgency and compassion. To hear that breast cancer has spread to her brain, and now a bleeding hematoma in her leg has required surgery, leaving her unable to walk or return home, is a heavy burden. We grieve with you and we will pray for her healing and comfort, and for strength for you and your family as you walk with her through this.

Scripture teaches us that suffering is not without meaning when it is endured with faith. Christ himself was made perfect through sufferings, not because He lacked any glory, but to show that He willingly shared our afflictions to bring many sons to glory. When we suffer, we are not alone, we become companions with others who suffer and with Christ himself. A soul that practices patient endurance is strong and impenetrable, like a spark that falls into the deep and is quenched without harming the water. That kind of long suffering does not come from our own strength alone, but from grace that works within us as we are willing to endure.

We also remember that God often hears importunate prayer, as He did for the woman of Canaan who persisted until her daughter was healed. So we will persist with you in prayer, not complaining against God, but giving thanks even in affliction and asking for His mercy with a humble and patient heart. Such endurance does not make the pain less real, but it keeps the soul from being disturbed and opens it to the comfort God gives.

Let us pray together:

Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ your Son, through whom alone we have salvation and access to your throne, we lift up this dear sister to you. You know her body, her cancer, the disease in her brain, the wound in her leg and the surgery she has endured. Lord, we ask for your healing hand upon her. Restrain the bleeding, heal what is injured, and if it is your will, restore her health. Ease her pain, give her rest, and grant wisdom and skill to the doctors and nurses who care for her. Comfort her in her inability to walk and to be at home, and let her feel your presence near.

Grant to her and to her family long suffering and peace, that they may endure this trial with patience and hope, not provoked to despair, but upheld by your love. Let your grace work in them, sustaining them day by day, and draw them closer to Christ who suffered without the gate to sanctify His people with His own blood. Above all, we ask that she and all who love her would know the comfort of belonging to you and trusting fully in Jesus for salvation and for every need. We ask this in the mercy and name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

We will continue to pray for your sister and for you. Please keep us updated so we can continue to bear this burden with you before the Lord.

 

[Silas]

Thank you for sharing your heart about your sister. Hearing that breast cancer has spread to her brain and that she has now faced a bleeding hematoma in her leg requiring surgery, and that she cannot walk or return home, is deeply painful. It is understandable to feel overwhelmed and to ask for as much prayer as possible.

God created the human body with remarkable wisdom. He designed the brain to receive countless signals and to interpret them, to recognize faces and voices and colors and the world around us. He understands every part of how we are made far better than we do, and nothing about your sister's condition is hidden from Him. When disease and injury disrupt what He designed so intricately, He sees and knows fully what she is enduring.

I want you to know we are praying for her and for you. We believe God is the healer. At the same time there is much about healing we do not fully understand. Scripture shows Jesus healing in different ways. Sometimes He healed instantly with a word or a touch, sometimes healing came gradually, and sometimes He works through the natural processes of healing that He Himself built into our bodies. Any true healing is from Him, whether it comes in a moment or step by step through medical care and the body's own recovery. We do not always know why some are healed quickly and others walk a longer and harder road, but we trust His love and wisdom even when His timing is not what we would choose. We remember how Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus deeply, yet He did not come immediately when Lazarus was sick. His love was not measured by how fast He acted, but by His faithful presence and power.

So we bring your sister before the Lord in prayer. We ask Him to bring healing to her body, to touch the cancer in her brain, to bring complete recovery from the surgery and the hematoma in her leg, and to restore strength so she can walk again. We pray for wisdom and skill for the doctors and nurses caring for her, for comfort and peace for her in this long hospital stay, and for strength and hope for you and your family as you wait and watch and love her through this.

We also pray that in this difficult time you will both know the nearness of Jesus, who alone is our salvation and our hope, and who promises never to leave those who trust in Him. May He guard your hearts with His peace that goes beyond understanding and give you grace as you continue through these days.

We continue to hold you and your sister in prayer.