Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your urgent prayer has been read with care, and I hear how heavy and distressing these concerns about your skin and eyes and body have become for you. You have listed so many marks and discomforts, and you have brought them before the Lord with great earnestness, asking in the name of Jesus. God does hear those who call upon Him, and He sees both your body and your soul with perfect compassion.
At the same time, Scripture helps us understand what it means when the Lord says ask and you will receive. God does not promise to grant every specific request exactly as we frame it in the moment, but He promises to answer as a wise and loving Father, giving what is truly good for us according to His will. He cares for the body, and it is right to bring our physical needs to Him, including pain, dryness, irritation, and tiredness in the eyes and skin. Yet His greatest work is not outward but inward.
That is what the Scriptures teach when they say that bodily exercise profits little, but godliness profits in every way both in this life and in the life to come. The cleansing we most need is not bodily but spiritual. The blood of Christ does not merely sprinkle the surface as the old purifications did, but enters the soul and is mixed with its very substance, making it vigorous and pure and leading it to true beauty. That beauty does not fade and no hand can take it away. Our anxiety about outward appearance can become a heavy burden that scourges the soul more than any bodily trouble, keeping us fixed on what is temporary while we are made for what is eternal.
This does not mean your physical distress is unimportant. God formed your body and He knows your discomfort. You are free to ask Him for relief and healing, and we will ask with you. But we also ask Him to give you peace from constant worry, to free you from the fear that your worth depends on having perfectly smooth and unblemished skin, and to set your heart more and more on the health of the soul, which is made beautiful by His grace.
Let me pray for you now.
Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus Christ Your Son who shed His blood for the remission of sins, have mercy on this Your child. You know every detail of this body that You have made, every ache in the eyes, every irritation of the skin and scalp, every mark that causes sorrow. We ask You to grant relief where it is Your will, to ease pain and dryness and all that truly afflicts, and to give wisdom to care for the body well. Above all, we ask You to cleanse and strengthen the soul, to pour Your peace into a troubled heart, to lift the weight of anxiety, and to help this dear one to know that they are loved and valued in Christ not for outward appearance but as one redeemed by Your blood. Teach us to trust Your providence in all things, to seek first the exercise of godliness, and to rest in the hope of the eternal healing and wholeness You have promised to all who are in Christ. Give comfort today, steady faith, and a quiet confidence in Your goodness. Amen.
Continue to bring your needs to God each day, but also ask Him to shape your desires and to give you contentment in Him. Care for your body with simple, wise means and seek medical counsel when needed for ongoing irritation or eye trouble, and at the same time nourish your soul with prayer, with Scripture, and with fellowship among believers. The Lord who loves you desires to make you whole, and His greatest wholeness begins within and will be completed in the life to come.
At the same time, Scripture helps us understand what it means when the Lord says ask and you will receive. God does not promise to grant every specific request exactly as we frame it in the moment, but He promises to answer as a wise and loving Father, giving what is truly good for us according to His will. He cares for the body, and it is right to bring our physical needs to Him, including pain, dryness, irritation, and tiredness in the eyes and skin. Yet His greatest work is not outward but inward.
That is what the Scriptures teach when they say that bodily exercise profits little, but godliness profits in every way both in this life and in the life to come. The cleansing we most need is not bodily but spiritual. The blood of Christ does not merely sprinkle the surface as the old purifications did, but enters the soul and is mixed with its very substance, making it vigorous and pure and leading it to true beauty. That beauty does not fade and no hand can take it away. Our anxiety about outward appearance can become a heavy burden that scourges the soul more than any bodily trouble, keeping us fixed on what is temporary while we are made for what is eternal.
This does not mean your physical distress is unimportant. God formed your body and He knows your discomfort. You are free to ask Him for relief and healing, and we will ask with you. But we also ask Him to give you peace from constant worry, to free you from the fear that your worth depends on having perfectly smooth and unblemished skin, and to set your heart more and more on the health of the soul, which is made beautiful by His grace.
Let me pray for you now.
Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus Christ Your Son who shed His blood for the remission of sins, have mercy on this Your child. You know every detail of this body that You have made, every ache in the eyes, every irritation of the skin and scalp, every mark that causes sorrow. We ask You to grant relief where it is Your will, to ease pain and dryness and all that truly afflicts, and to give wisdom to care for the body well. Above all, we ask You to cleanse and strengthen the soul, to pour Your peace into a troubled heart, to lift the weight of anxiety, and to help this dear one to know that they are loved and valued in Christ not for outward appearance but as one redeemed by Your blood. Teach us to trust Your providence in all things, to seek first the exercise of godliness, and to rest in the hope of the eternal healing and wholeness You have promised to all who are in Christ. Give comfort today, steady faith, and a quiet confidence in Your goodness. Amen.
Continue to bring your needs to God each day, but also ask Him to shape your desires and to give you contentment in Him. Care for your body with simple, wise means and seek medical counsel when needed for ongoing irritation or eye trouble, and at the same time nourish your soul with prayer, with Scripture, and with fellowship among believers. The Lord who loves you desires to make you whole, and His greatest wholeness begins within and will be completed in the life to come.
