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Prayer for the Sick
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duty to make confession of them.” Sin of a private character is to be
confessed to Christ, the only mediator between God and man. For
“if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous.”
1 John 2:1
. Every sin is an offense against God and
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is to be confessed to Him through Christ. Every open sin should be
as openly confessed. Wrong done to a fellow being should be made
right with the one who has been offended. If any who are seeking
health have been guilty of evilspeaking, if they have sowed discord
in the home, the neighborhood, or the church, and have stirred up
alienation and dissension, if by any wrong practice they have led
others into sin, these things should be confessed before God and
before those who have been offended. “If we confess our sins, He
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9
.
When wrongs have been righted, we may present the needs of
the sick to the Lord in calm faith, as His Spirit may indicate. He
knows each individual by name, and cares for each as if there were
not another upon the earth for whom He gave His beloved Son.
Because God’s love is so great and so unfailing, the sick should be
encouraged to trust in Him and be cheerful. To be anxious about
themselves tends to cause weakness and disease. If they will rise
above depression and gloom, their prospect of recovery will be
better; for “the eye of the Lord is upon them” “that hope in His
mercy.”
Psalm 33:18
.
In prayer for the sick it should be remembered that “we know
not what we should pray for as we ought.”
Romans 8:26
. We do not
know whether the blessing we desire will be best or not. Therefore
our prayers should include this thought: “Lord, thou knowest every
secret of the soul. Thou art acquainted with these persons. Jesus,
their Advocate, gave His life for them. His love for them is greater
than ours can possibly be. If, therefore, it is for Thy glory and
the good of the afflicted ones, we ask, in the name of Jesus, that
they may be restored to health. If it be not Thy will that they may
be restored, we ask that Thy grace may comfort and Thy presence
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sustain them in their sufferings.”
God knows the end from the beginning. He is acquainted with
the hearts of all men. He reads every secret of the soul. He knows
whether those for whom prayer is offered would or would not be