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Co-working of the Divine and the Human
73
Seeking God’s Help Through Prayer
Wonderful are the opportunities given to the guardians of the
sick. In all that is done for the restoration of the sick, let them
understand that the physician is seeking to help them cooperate with
God in combating disease. Lead them to feel that at every step taken
in harmony with the laws of God, they may expect the aid of divine
power.
The sick and suffering will have much more confidence in the
physician who they are confident loves and fears God. They rely
upon his or her words. They feel a sense of safety in the presence
and administration of that physician.
Knowing the Lord Jesus, it is the privilege of the Christian health
professional to invite His presence into the sickroom by prayer.
Before performing critical operations, physicians should ask for the
aid of the Great Physician. They should assure the suffering ones
that God can bring them safely through the ordeal, that in all times
of distress He is a sure refuge for those who trust in Him. The
physician who cannot do this loses case after case that otherwise
might have been saved. If he or she could speak words that would
inspire faith in the sympathizing Savior, who feels every throb of
anguish, and could present the needs of the soul to Him in prayer,
the crisis would more often be passed safely.
Only He who reads the heart can know with what trembling and
terror many patients consent to an operation under the surgeon’s
hand. They realize their peril. While they may have confidence in
the physician’s skill, they know it is not infallible. But as they see
the physician pray, asking help from God, they are inspired with
confidence. Gratitude and trust open the heart to the healing power
of God, the energies of the whole being are vitalized, and the life
forces triumph.
To the physician as well as to the patient, the Savior’s presence
is an element of strength. Often the responsibilities and possibilities
of the physician’s work bring dread upon the spirit. The feverish-
ness of uncertainty and fear would make the hand unskillful. But
the assurance that the divine Counselor is present to guide and to
sustain imparts quietness and courage. The touch of Christ upon the
physician’s hand brings vitality, restfulness, confidence, and power.
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