“Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed… ” (Jeremiah 17:14)
I am convinced without a shadow of a doubt that God is the source of all healing. He is, He was and He will always be The Healer. He is NOT the source of sickness (though he may allow it), He is the source of ALL healing. Only God gives life and He alone has the power to take it.
MY TESTIMONY
When I first read about Him as the Healer, it fascinated me. He healed physical wounds, spiritual wounds and sometimes, He himself wounded and He himself healed and restored (Job 5:18, Deuteronomy 32: 39, Isaiah 30:26). All this was head knowledge to me, until God healed me from a back injury I had been suffering from for almost 10 years.
When I became a Christian I sought God for my healing. I studied Him as the healer, prayed over my own body, went to every healing prayer meeting. I felt better and better. I wrestled with God to finish what He started. One night as I was being prayed for, my back felt as though it was on fire and the pain was gone, and it has never returned. Since then I KNOW Him as my healer and I have never stopped praying for healing.
MOTHERHOOD AND ILLNESS
When I had my babies, one of the hardest things for me as a mother was when they began to fall sick. By God’s grace, my children are healthy. But when they do fall sick, it often brings to my mind parents of children with serious life threatening illnesses, and disabilities, and my heartbreaks for them. The pain they go through as parents is something My God knows all too well. He went through it, when His son, was separated from Him, flogged and beaten for the sake of redeeming mankind. He knows what we go through as parents when we watch our children go through physical, mental and spiritual illness. For those who are going through this right now, let me remind you, that God knows your pain. In this post, I want to share a few practical ways you can pray for your children, that has helped me over the years. I hope this will help those in need.
DEAL WITH GENERATIONAL ROOTS OF SICKNESS
Get right with God. From scripture we know that sometimes sickness comes as a consequence of sin (Scripture ref: Exodus 15:26, 2 Chro 7:14). Those consequences can pass down generations, and on to our children. It is not their fault of course, but as we may have had to deal with our parent’s failures, our children are just as vulnerable to being affected by ours. We as parents have spiritual authority over our children. Therefore our spiritual life has an enormous impact on theirs. So get right with the Lord. Repent and be reconciled to Him.
Ask Him to cleanse you from any generational sin and curses and walk closely with Him obeying his commandments. It will give you confidence in the Lord and His ability to care for you and your children. This does not mean that you or your children will never fall sick, but it does mean that your have closed the door of sickness as a consequence of generational sin. It means that you have confidence to bring your supplications for healing to God and hold on to the His promises that are inherited by the righteous. “But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on them that fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children” (Psalm 103:17-18)
PRAY AND TRUST GOD
Pray, Pray, Pray!! The best counsel I have ever received was from my mother in law. She said: “You are the pillar of your household. As a wife and a mother, bend your knees before the Lord daily and pray for your family, until He has done what He has promised according to His word”. This counsel is echoed in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (NIV).
Pray through the promises of God. If you are praying for healing, it really helps to go through scripture and note every time God healed. This will build up your faith in God as our Healer. Listen to testimonies of healing, to strengthen your faith that God heals today. Then note down every promise of good health (Physical and spiritual) that a child of God inherits. Then declare and claim those promises over your family. You will see its fruit. Though sickness may come time to time, it will not cripple your household. The sickness will not be prolonged or cause unnecessary discomfort to your children. I have experienced this personally, when my kids fall sick, it never lasts for more than 2 or 3 days and it never makes them tired or cause unnecessary discomfort.
Pray against the god of this world, the father of lies. Satan often likes to inflict illness on us just to cripple us, make us tired and weak so that we become weak in our faith, and less able to fight our flesh. But the truth is, as I have come to know, satan is quite short. You can wound him a great deal when you are on your knees before the Lord. And when he does fall over, kick him out for he is nothing but a speck of dust, at your feet. So pray all the more. Your body may feel weak, but you have a VOICE! With a spoken word God gave life to His creation. And that voice, that power to give life resides in you as a child of God. So use it. Speak life! Take charge over your body, and command it to be healed for good health is your inheritance. Command your body to rise up and be restored, to be strengthened in the Lord for the blood of Jesus, whose stripes healed us, flows through your veins. No sickness of any kind can disrupt you or your family fighting the good fight for the glory of God!
Pray for good medical advice. Often times I feel that people are given way too many opinions and too many medications that treat the symptoms without addressing the root cause of the illness. We need good, equipped, anointed physicians who will aid the healing, rather than lead you to financial debt. Pray for good doctors and surgeons who are equipped by God.
Pray for others who are sick. Sometimes when you pray for another person going through the same struggle, it builds incredible faith in God.
Leave the outcome to God, and trust in His timing, His plan, and His goodness. This is the ultimate test of your faith that whatever He does is good. All will be made well, all be restored.
Do not give up hope. He is the healer. Do not stop waiting on Him and wrestling with him for your healing. When the world tells you otherwise, you dare to hope in Him. You dare to believe and have faith in Him as your healer. Pray that your children will be given strength, peace and grace to go through the struggle and that your household will be surrounded with people of faith who can support you through this process. Pray that you as parents be given courage to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer (Romans 12:12).
TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY
Be sensible. Sometimes God heals in a minute. Sometimes takes a little longer, for reasons God has deemed necessary. So be patient, give your self some grace and rest. Make as much effort as you are able, to ensure you and your family eat well. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Take care of it. Teach your children to take care of it, to be good stewards of what God has given. Use medicine when necessary. I believe that if you break your leg, it is wise and necessary to put a cast on it. Praying and sitting with a broken leg does no good to anyone.
To my brothers and sisters who undergoing such trials, my love and prayers are with you. May my God, who never fails, be compassionate and be quick to give you relief and grant your request. Have hope. He is at work.
To God be the glory forever more!
(Some promises of God to pray thorough are Psalm 103:2-6, Genesis 20:17, Job 33:25-26, Psalms 30:1-3, Psalms 43:5, Isaiah 38:16-17, Isaiah 53:4-5, Jeremiah 17:14)