Praying for Sick People Helping Hurting People Lesson 11

What is prayer?  A reciprocal relationship with God  Consulting with the Lord Almighty  Listening for his instructions  Working with God to accomplish his purposes  Allowing God to work through us

The Persistent Widow Luke 18 : 1 – 8 – She understood  The nature of prayer as rebellion against what should not be – Heart disease, cancer, etc. should not be  The practice of prayer as persistent – We must persist until God acts  The magnitude of prayer is in proportion to the power of the evil we want God to overcome

The Cycle of Prayer Revelation 8 :  God is listening to hear us pray  Our prayer is like incense ascending to the throne of God  The size of the container is in proportion to the power of the evil we hope to overcome  When the incense container is full and has ascended to God, then his purifying power comes down to do his will

Fervency in Prayer James 5 : 16  The extent and fervency of our prayer makes a difference  We are not ‘convincing’ God to do something  We are making ourselves channels for his power to work through us

Prayer and Praise  God is enthroned in the praises of his people – Psalm 22 : 3  Our praise is a sacrifice of worship to God  Our praise pleases him – Luke 17 :  the man who was healed of leprosy  In all circumstances we have much for which to thank God – Romans 8 : 28

Prayer and Sickness  Some diseases respond quickly  Others require much persistence  This is especially so for long-standing or complicated illnesses  For some there is no response at all

Prayer is Work  It requires time, effort, and energy  It can be exhausting  We must pray with our mind, soul, and spirit

Pray with the Mind  We are talking with God, consulting with him  We need to use our knowledge of the problem, of his Word, and of what is needed  We are not ‘informing’ God, but working with him

We should be Specific  Pray about the disease and the affected organs  We can even pray for specific cells – white blood cells, liver cells, etc.  Pray about specific symptoms, asking God for relief from one or more of them  Pray for caregivers and treatments  Pray for family and the personal life of the sick person

Pray with the Soul  With feelings and emotions  We can express worries, concerns, fear, even anger to God  Moses got angry with God and God listened  David expressed a wide range of emotions to God in the Psalms  So should we

Pray with the Spirit  We are in the presence of the Lord of the universe  We need to come with awe and respect  We are there to do business with him  We are offering ourselves as a channel for his mighty power

Praying in the Will of God  God wills our health – John 10:10; Jeremiah 29 : – God’s plan is good  Do not pray “If it be Thy will”  Pray “ according to your will”  Heart healing is always possible  Physical healing may not be possible  But God works for our good in all circumstances – pleasant and unpleasant

Why prayers are sometimes unanswered  God is sovereign; we are not  God’s plan is good, but we may not know it – Job  We may have put obstacles in God’s way – Sin – Isaiah 59: 1,2 – Unforgiveness – Mark 11: 25 – Personal problems that need to be resolved – Lack of faith – Mark 6: 1 - 6

A wrong diagnosis  God works through medicine  It is his gift to us  He usually does not override our mistakes  We must practice the best medicine possible  Have we made the right diagnosis?  Are we giving the right treatment?  Ask God for wisdom in this

Bringing problems to God  Ask the person to focus on a real concern – the disease or one or more symptoms  Tell him to present this concern to the Lord in prayer, place it in his hands, and wait  Have him imagine Jesus dealing with it  Tell him to listen for a word from Jesus  Finally, pray audibly for these concerns

Prayer speaks to three persons  To God – we are praying to him  To our own heart – we need to listen to what we are saying  To the sick person  Often a word we say in prayer is a powerful word of healing to the one we are praying for

Praying for an unconscious person  Hearing is the last sense to disappear  NEVER speak negatively in the presence of an unconscious person  Speak to the person by name  Speak a word of encouragement  Share a portion of Scripture  In prayer, bring the person into the presence of God

Permission for praying  ALWAYS ask for permission to pray  Never say: “I am going to pray for you” but rather, “Would you like me to pray?”  Most sick persons do, but a few don’t  When they do, ask if there are other concerns to pray about. This may uncover other problems needing to be dealt with

Philippians 4 : 6, 7  Don’t worry about anything, but in your prayers, ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart. And the peace of God, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus. (Good News Bible)