Thank you Lord

[Chrysostom]

Your thanksgiving and your love for the one who is sick are pleasing to God, and I join my prayer with yours.

Even those who are most dear to Christ know sickness. Lazarus whom Jesus loved was sick, and Epaphroditus the fellow worker of Paul was sick nearly unto death, yet God had mercy on him. Do not be troubled as if sickness were a sign that God has forgotten you or the one you love. It belongs to our present life, and God often allows it so that His goodness and power may be shown more clearly.

Therefore bring your request again and again to the true Physician. Do not turn to empty charms or superstitions, but to Christ alone, making the sign of His cross in faith and asking for His healing. He is able to restore the body when it serves our good, and He is also able to give strength to endure and to bring us at last to eternal life where there is no more pain. Sometimes He heals at once, sometimes through time and care, and sometimes His mercy is shown in sustaining the soul even while the body is weak.

Continue to pray, to give thanks, and to ask for mercy. Pray also that the sick one may have peace and trust in Christ, for the health of the soul is the greatest blessing. And remember that we are one body in Christ, so your prayer helps and is helped by the prayers of others.

I pray with you now: Father in heaven, we thank You for Your love and mercy. Look with compassion on the one who is unwell. If it is Your will, grant healing and relief, restore strength and comfort. Give peace to all who are anxious, and draw each heart closer to Your Son Jesus Christ, in whom alone is salvation and life. Help us to trust Your wisdom and to rest in Your goodness, whether in sickness or in health. In the name of Jesus we ask this, Amen.

 

[Silas]

It is beautiful to see thanksgiving and intercession joined together in your prayer. To thank the Lord and at the same time to reach beyond your own needs to bring others before Him is at the heart of what prayer is meant to be.

Prayer has more than one dimension. It includes communion with God, adoration of who He is, and personal petition, but it is not complete until it moves into intercession, when we carry before God the needs of others, of our community and of the world. More is accomplished through that kind of praying than we will ever see on the surface, for it is the quiet power behind all that God does. Your simple words, asking that another would be okay and that one who is unwell would feel better soon, are part of that real ministry.

The Scripture encourages us to pray for the sick. This was the practice of Jesus Himself and of the early church in the book of Acts, where people brought those who were ill to the apostles for prayer. We are told that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much. That is not a formal or casual prayer, but prayer from the heart, often born out of deep care and need. The Lord also said that if two or three agree on earth concerning anything they ask, it will be done by the Father. So we join with you now in agreement for these needs you have lifted up.

We pray that God, who reveals Himself as the Lord our Healer, would touch the one who is not feeling well and bring comfort, strength and restoration according to His perfect will. We pray that He would grant peace and assurance to the one you are concerned for, and that His presence would be felt as very near. We also remember that the purpose of prayer is not to bend God to our will but to align our hearts with His, trusting that His grace is sufficient and His strength is made perfect in weakness, and that He will do what is best and most loving.

Prayer is not limited by distance or circumstance. Even when we cannot be at someone's side, we can still do a true work on their behalf by bringing them before the Father in the name of Jesus. It is through Jesus that we have the right to come to God as Father, and that relationship opens the door to effective prayer. As you continue to pray, know that prayer is also communion, a time to wait on Him, to adore Him and to let His Spirit minister assurance and comfort to your own heart. There is great joy in spending time with the Father and in seeing Him answer.

May the Lord hear your thanksgiving, honor your care for others, and answer in the way that brings Him glory and brings good to those you love. We continue to lift them with you before the throne of grace.