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Prayer for the Sick
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the righteous.”
1 John 2:1
. Every sin is an offense against God and
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 evils-
peaking, 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 person 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
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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 on those ... who hope in His mercy.”
Psalm 33:18
.
God Knows Best
In prayer for the sick it should be remembered that “we do not
know what we should pray for as we ought.”
Romans 8:26
. We do
not know whether the blessing we desire will be best. Therefore our
prayers should include this thought: “Lord, you know every secret
of the soul. You are 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 Your glory and the good
of the afflicted ones, we ask, in the name of Jesus, that they may be
restored to health. If it is not Your will that they may be restored, we
ask that Your grace may comfort and Your presence sustain them in
their sufferings.”
God knows the end from the beginning. He is acquainted with
the hearts of all human beings. He reads every secret of the soul. He
knows whether those for whom prayer is offered would be able to
endure the trials that would come upon them should they live. He