You come, and rightly so, casting this unspoken care upon the Lord in the name of Jesus. For He Himself laid down the law that we should continually make supplication, not with a prayer of ten thousand clauses, but with a heart poured out. This very act, to bring even a silent groan before Him, honors God. It declares that He is the only Physician of souls who knows our sickness before we speak. Do not let the enemy whisper that your prayer is unheard because it is unspoken; the intention of the heart is a great shout in the ears of Him who hears us always.
Yet take heed how you approach this care. For He did not pray as one needing an impulse from above, but to teach the weaker sort. When you pray in that Name, you are not calling upon a servant. You are calling upon the Name which is above every name, at which every knee shall bow. Do not mingle this high confession with any thought that dishonors the Son of God. If you suppose He lacks power and needs your persuasion, your prayer is not to the Lord of Glory. But if you come believing that He is one with the Father, that His will and the Father’s will is one, then you stand on the rock, and the winds of this trial cannot shake you.
Be not deceived, then, into thinking that this prayer was offered to some man, or that your hope rests in human favor. The name of the Church is not a name of separation, but of unity. You were sanctified in Christ Jesus; the laver, the purification, was not the work of Paul or of Apollos, but of the Lord alone. Therefore, fix your mind there. The many who come saying, “I am the anointed one,” will point you to this or that remedy, this or that dependence. But your safety lies in calling upon the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord, in every place, both theirs and ours. He is the one Judge and Lord of all; bring your petition directly to Him, for He has commanded us to cast our cares upon Him.
And if this unspoken burden has come upon you through the reproach of another, through the cursing of a Shimei in your life, do not rage. Let him alone. The Lord has perhaps bidden him, that He might look upon your humiliation and requite you good for this cursing. In this way your sins are made lighter, and you are led onwards to true philosophy. Bear it, then, and see in this trouble not the spite of man, but the summons of a loving God, who uses the venom of others to work a medicine for your soul. Stand fast, calling upon the Name, and you will see the salvation of the Lord.