Worship Wednesday: Praying for healing

A Facebook friend of mine is fighting two brain tumors . . . a year after she beat one.

A family that attended my congregation is living a nightmare.  Their adult son was seriously injured in an accident and has a severe brain injury.

Both are asking for prayers for healing.

I have a rough time when I pray for healing, both for myself and for others, because I know God doesn't always answer prayers the way we want them to.  And I don't know if God does "miraculous" healings in this day and age.  Some believe that he does, some believe that he does not.

I believe God can do anything, and to me, "anything" means "anything"--including instantaneous healing.  But it's rare that instantaneous healing happens.  And people still die, and people still suffer with chronic illness.  People still lose loved ones and they grieve.

Author Anne Lamont wrote a book called Help, Thanks, Wow, which she calls "the three essential prayers". (I have heard of one other prayer added to that, "Oops".)  Right now, the two families that I've referenced are praying "help" prayers.  Help me.  Help my son.

David and other Psalmists prayed many "help" prayers.  David was chased by men who sought to kill him.  I wonder if he ever ducked behind a rock with his heart pounding, not daring to breathe because he knew that if he did, he'd be discovered and possibly killed on the spot.  I guess you could say that Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane was a "help" prayer; help for what He knew was lying ahead. 

I don't know if God is going to heal the people I'm referring to.  They don't know if they are going to be healed.  Perhaps that is a definition of "faith" --  choosing to walk with God in spite of not knowing what the outcome of their circumstances will be. 

In the meantime, I will pray "help".  I will pray "help" for both families.

And I will pray the prayer that Father Tim from Jan Karon's Mitford series calls "the prayer that never fails."

Thy will be done.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.