This trial has come like a sudden storm upon the deep, and the soul we bear upon our hearts lies in the coma as one sunk beneath the waves. Yet it is for such an hour that the saints are summoned to the agony of intercession. The Apostle, feeling his own weakness, cried, “I beseech you, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.” And now the Church must strive for this dear brother, that the God of peace may be with him, and that the blood of the covenant may speak a better word than the poison of sepsis.
Though the physicians fight with skill, we have a mightier Healer who but speaks and the bones are raised up. Has He not given us that handy prayer, “Lord, help me”? Let it rise now for this man as from his own lips while he cannot speak: Lord, help him! We know his age, that he is in the midst of his years, and we plead the tender mercies of the God who declares, “I have prayed for thee.” Christ our Intercessor layeth His wounded hands upon the altar of His sacrifice, and the Father heareth Him always. When the enemy sifts like wheat, there is One who prays for every Peter by name; even so let us name this brother before the throne, for prayer gains force when we mention the beloved and afflicted individually.
All things are ready in Christ, healing for the sick, life for the dying, strength for the faint. What is this coma before His quickening word? Can He not say to the fever, “Peace, be still,” and to the wandering spirit, “Return”? Surely the Lord will not be angry forever, nor will He cast off the prayer of the contrite. Therefore, let us plead with importunity: “Wilt Thou not revive us again, that Thy people may rejoice in Thee?” Let us lay hold of the horns of the altar and not let go until we have the blessing. I bid you join with me in this sacred agony, for it is the privilege of the Church militant to bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Lift up your voices, ye that are the Lord’s remembrancers; give Him no rest till He establish and till He make this tried soul a monument of restoring grace. The prayer which lieth in the heart like a seed must be hatched by the warmth of the Spirit, and then the answer will spring forth. Be not slack; let it be said of us that we prayed, and the God of peace was there.