You ask for your son’s complete recovery and you ask it in Jesus’ name. This is good. But examine now the root of your request. When Christ encountered the blind men, He did not say, “I will ask the Father,” but, “Believe ye that I am able to do this?” He draws your attention not to a distant hope, but to His own power standing ready before you. Do you believe He is able to restore your son, body and mind and spirit? Not merely to assist or to sympathize, but to do it? That is the faith that summons His saving hand.
Yet do not think that true faith demands an instant answer. If He gave the moment you asked, where would patience grow? You pray for patience for your son; so you must first welcome it yourself. Faith is proved by time, by enduring without faintheartedness, by not condemning the One who promised even when the circumstances seem to fight against it. Remember the saints who took the plundering of their goods with joy, and the poor believers who stood firm under rulers’ wrath when there was no earthly ally. Their patience was not for two or three days but for a long season of affliction, and by that patience hope was kept alive. So if the healing lingers, do not let your hope waver. God’s delay is not refusal; it is the tutor of a more steadfast faith.
And note this: the healing of the daughter in the Gospel came through the mother’s great faith. Christ did not simply say, “Let the child be healed,” but, “Great is your faith; be it unto you even as you will.” The parent’s faith contributed mightily. So let your own faith rise and lay hold of Christ. Pray not as a beggar unsure of welcome, but as one who trusts in the Healer’s will and power. At the same time, stir up faith in your son, for the Lord often joins the faith of the one who asks to the faith of the one who receives. But if your son is too weak in body or spirit, then let your faith bear him up, as the paralytic was borne by his friends and let down through the roof.
Above all, seek peace, but understand what kind of peace Christ gives. The peace that is simply an untroubled life He did not promise; He brought a sword that cuts away our false security. Yet there is a peace toward God that is joined to love and unshakable faith. That peace can dwell in you and your son even if the recovery is slow. Without faith, love has nothing to stand on, and peace becomes a fragile thing shattered by the first delay. Guard your heart, then, with that peace born of trust.
So continue asking, but ask with the confidence that He is able. Continue waiting, but let the waiting be the workshop of patience. And as the healing progresses, whether swiftly or by small degrees, let your son’s soul be the first to recover, fortified by hope, made cheerful by faith. Then, in His own wise time, the restoration of body and mind will follow, according to your faith.