Your prayer for your sister has risen before the mercy seat, and it is a prayer that pleads the very work of Christ. You have asked the Lord to cover her with the blood of Jesus, and there is no covering so broad, so warm, so effectual. All the garments we weave for ourselves are narrower than we can wrap ourselves in; the fig leaves of our own righteousness, the slippers of good works, these leave the soul naked before the eye of God. But the righteousness of Christ is a seamless robe from the top of the head to the sole of the foot, and His precious blood shuts up transgression, seals up sin, and covers iniquity. Let this be your confidence: He who covers her is the same who has overthrown the whole kingdom of evil, and Dagon shall fall before Him, even to the breaking of the very stump.
You pray for a garden of protection, that no evil come near her dwelling, and that she be kept from bad influences. This is a wise and needful petition, for the evil one sows tares while men sleep, and the company of the ungodly is like a noxious air to the soul. Yet remember that the Lord alone can build the hedge around His own. The leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations, and every leaf, every small mercy, every tender providence, is charged with preserving grace. Christ touched the sick of the palsy with both healing and pardon, and when the Sun of Righteousness rises with healing in His wings, no evil can abide the brightness of His appearing. Pray on, then, with confident expectation that the evil birds of the air shall not snatch away the seed sown in her heart.
You have asked for her healing, physical, spiritual, mental. It is written, “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” Many are the fevers of the soul, the hot desires, the consuming lusts, the burning ambitions that dry up the spirit; but the great Physician lays His hand upon the burning one and lifts her up. Only let her come to Him, for there is no stint in Jesus’ healing power. He does not merely point out the disease, as the law does with its lancet and knife; He applies the remedy from Calvary. And note this sweet conjunction: forgiveness and healing go hand in hand. If she is sick unto death through sin, let her look to Christ on the cross, and He will say, “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.” Then the fever leaves, and she arises to serve Him.
You long for the Holy Spirit to be with her always, and for her to know she is loved and cared for as a child of the Lord. This is the very heart of the covenant. The Lord shall preserve her going out and her coming in. He will hold her hand every step of the way, for He has said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Let her not look to feelings or frames, but to the sure promise of a faithful God. And do you, who intercede for her, examine your own soul: is there war between you and evil, or a false peace? For if you still delight in sin, the love of God is not in you. But if you have tasted that the Lord is gracious, then take every prayer to the throne with boldness, knowing that overcoming evil with good is the way of the cross, and Christ has overcome for all His people. May she see the light, touch His heart by faith, and feel His soul-healing hand. So be it, in Jesus’ name.
