Prayer and Sickness

I don’t know about you, but when I pray, if I don’t pray out loud (which I don’t do too often, actually) my mind wanders. I’ll pray for so-and-so who has the flu, then I’ll think of so-and-so who HAD the flu, and that I should call them or e-mail them to see how they’re doing, and then I think about e-mails that I haven’t returned yet, and then the people on the other end of those e-mails, and how they are doing, or something they said, and then…

I don’t think I’m alone. In fact, I know I’m not…. Lisa Whelchel (best known as Blair on the Facts of Life) has a book called “The Busy Mom’s Guide to Prayer.” It’s a guided prayer journal. Every day (Monday through Friday for a month, so 20 days total), she covers 6 areas: Praise, Self, Husband, Children, Personal Influences, and Reaching Beyond. Then every day, she covers a different attribute under those categories. For example, Day One under Praise, is Holiness. So she has guided prayer, including praying Scripture, regarding God’s holiness. Under Self, she has “Role of Wisdom” and so on and so forth.

On every page opposite HER page is a blank page for you to add things you want to pray about, and you can follow her example and write it all out. The first time I went through this book, I just read hers. This time, I am finding verses that speak to ME regarding the attributes she listed, and adding them to the pages. I am also filling out the blank pages.

Yesterday I started working on this, and on the first blank page, the category I added was the “Sick and Infirm.” I found two awesome verses that really spoke to me where I am right now, and where many people I know happen to be as well. The first one is Psalm 41:3.

“The Lord will sustain me on my sickbed, and RESTORE me from my bed of illness.” I changed the “him” to “my” to make it more personal.

The other verse is Malachi 4:2. (I know, MALACHI, right??)
“For those who revere Your Name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing on its wings, and I will go out and leap!”

I don’t know about you, but I haven’t “leaped” in a looooong time! So whether my healing and restoration come in this life, or when the “sun of righteousness rises”, it will surely come my friends!

For those of you that have read this blog for a bit, you know that Joanna and I are doing a Bible study called Me, Myself and Lies by Jennifer Rothschild. The main focus is to stop telling ourselves lies, even silently, and replace all falsehood with the Truth of God’s Word. Joanna said one time that the problem with some folks making a Biblical argument is that they decide what they think, and THEN find Scripture to back it up. Instead, we need to use the Bible as our filter for that which we believe. That REALLY struck me.

Since I have been sick, I have been hypersensitive to people who talk to me about healing. I believe that God chooses not to heal everyone on this planet IN THIS LIFETIME. The Word tells us we will suffer, and I think it presumptuous to think that doesn’t ever mean physically. The problem was, I had made up my opinion BEFORE I had fully investigated what the Word said.

I still believe what I did previously, but I also found my heart filled with much unbelief. I know that God CAN heal me, but I don’t think He will. Maybe that’s not the right attitude. There is a difference between walking around saying, “I’m not sick, I’m not sick” when you ARE, and saying “I am healed in Jesus’ Name.” Because one way or another folks, I WILL BE WHOLE AGAIN, Amen?? And so will you, if you only believe and confess that Jesus is Lord. There is no greater Hope than Jesus. Hallelujah!