A Prayer for Healing for a Long-Time Illness - Your Daily Prayer - May 19
A Prayer for Healing for a Long-Time Illness
By Vivian Bricker
Bible Reading:
“The Lord sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness.” - Psalm 41:3
Read or Listen Below:
I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease a few months ago, which is an incurable autoimmune disease. The symptoms are unbearable as I’m in excruciating pain nearly every day. As someone who already struggles with depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), I wondered why I had to add on yet another illness to my medical problems list. Crohn’s disease has affected my life to the point that I struggle to see anything positive anymore.
I reached out for support from friends, but all that was returned to me was static. Many of the people I knew from college were and are “living the dream,” as they have said. When I first heard that, my mom had recently died, and I was struggling with anorexia so that I couldn’t relate. They were achieving goals and going after what they wanted, but I felt like I was slowly disappearing.
Through everything, I have also learned what real support looks like. It can be found in the most unlikely places, but it is still there. I have a long-term illness, and it isn’t ever going to go away, but God is still my strength, and He has blessed me with many people in this present world who have helped me beyond their means. My sister has been with me on the worst day of my illness and has gone to the hospital with me.
My dad has also gone with me to the hospital and held doors open when my OCD couldn’t stand to touch the contaminated surfaces. One of my editors went out of her way to show support by connecting all the writers to build a sense of community, encouragement, and hope. I was so busy focusing on the negatives that I neglected to see all the blessings around me from God.
The Bible tells us, “The Lord sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness” (Psalm 41:3). Though I want God to heal my entire illness, I find comfort in His daily presence. For example, I struggle with debilitating stomach pain, nausea, and arthritis pain associated with my Crohn’s disease, and I pray about these specific symptoms each day. Some days are better than others in God's grace, and I credit the good days to God and His blessings. I am not promised every day will be pain-free, but I am promised that God sees my pain and is with me (Psalm 23:1-6). We don’t need to lose hope in God when He doesn’t heal us completely of our long-term illnesses.
There are prosperity preachers who want to convince us that God wants us to be rich, healthy, and get everything we want—and that when we don’t have those things, we must have done something wrong or we’re not doing something enough. The truth is that we live in a fallen world, and illnesses result from the fall. Some of us will get long-term illnesses and others will not, but we will all face illness and suffering of some sort. It is helpful to remember that though God allows our fallen world to continue, He is not the author of anything evil. Instead, He is the Author of everything good. We can trust that He will carry us through all our earthly days.
Let’s Pray:
Dear God, I need healing from the long-term illness I am suffering from. While I know that complete healing may not come until I am present with you in heaven, I pray that you will help me through all my days on earth. Please comfort me through the bad days and alleviate my symptoms with moments of peace. I’m tired of being sick and feeling so poorly; remind me of your nearness. I trust that you will be by my side and help me through every stage of this illness, until the very end. You are good, holy, and righteous, and I know You will never abandon me. I praise You, God. Amen.
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Kateryna Onishchuk
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