Prayer for Healing at St. Gabriels Anglican Parish Church in the heart of the Community of Popley

Prayer for Healing at St. Gabriel's Basingstoke

Prayer for Healing - the Questions and some answers

Prayer for Healing at St. Gabriel's

St. Gabriel's Church has always been a place to where people with problems or with specific troubles have turned for love, support and a caring community. Just recently this has been brought home to us by the tragic illness and loss of a small child. However, the strength that the parents were given over the time that the child was with us, assisted by persistent and congregational and private prayer enabled them to become ambassadors for Christ in a hospital ward where "No one has ever spoken of Jesus before".

Over the past few years it has become clear that God has been calling the community at St. Gabriel's to make some positive moves towards meeting the hopes and spiritual needs of those "in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness or any other adversity".

There have been specific occurrences in the recent past that have shown us that the power of prayer must not be underestimated and that Christ Jesus works though our prayer to heal. We know that does not always mean "restored to life" as was Lazarus or Jairus' daughter, but healing can mean a reduction of suffering, a courage to bear the illness, and a feeling that God will never put us to the test in a way that we cannot bear it. (of which more in the following section)

Our Church has prayed about this and some of our congregation have gone on courses to learn about Prayer for healing. Out of this has come a commitment to provide prayer at all our Sunday morning services. This is usually after the service in the quiet of the nave.

Prayer for Healing - the Questions and some answers

St. Matthew, St.Mark and St. Luke tell of a great many occasions when Jesus healed the sick in mind or in body. In our intercessions in church every Sunday, and in the prayers the Vicar says during weekday Office Services, prayer for the sick is one of the topics that is important to us all.

However, we all ask the question why our prayers do not seem to be answered. Hopefully, these few paragraphs may help.

It is good to keep on persistently praying for the healing of a loved one. Although it may seem that prayer is the only hope that is left, do keep on praying. Even, when some are close to death and are suffering, the prayer can turn to a prayer for peace and a merciful end to the suffering - this is a reflection of our love and concern for the sick person.
Pray specifically for the range of issues connected with the illness. Not just for the healing of the particular problem, but for the sick person's inner strength - to cope with their illness, for quality of rest or sleep which would aid the recovery, for quality of life and for concerns that cause anxiety, for them and their loved ones.
God heals people in many ways. He gives skills to doctors and nurses to bring about healing. Moreover, God has the power to bring miraculous healing himself. Most of us have great respect for the healing powers of the medical profession, but God is part of this too. Nor should we doubt the influence that prayer can have in medical healing.
Although there are many spectacular healings recorded which have followed prayer, in many cases, prayers for healing may appear to have gone unanswered. No one can say why this is. Clearly, we are not meant to go on living on this earth for ever; everyone will die at some point and share in the heavenly experiences that await all those who believe in Jesus Christ. However, that doesn't answer the question as to why some have to endure long and painful illnesses or conditions that have a terrible debilitating effect on the quality of life.

You may wish to read Revd Fred Belcher's sermon on "Living with Cancer". It is a wonderful statement of how someone whose belief in God is so strong that he knows that God will never cause him to suffer more than he can bear and that this life is a temporary time before an eternal joy.

Very rarely it is possible to find a good reason for suffering, but there can be good responses. Not that a good response is easy. But, the more one makes oneself aware of God's love, the more God changes negatives into positives Who we are matters most in life; and not what we endure, but the way we endure it that counts.

A young person's death is both extremely sad and tragic and remains a cause of great sorrow for a long time. Medicine is often powerless, yet still it is often impossible to understand why someone is not healed. Trusting in God's supreme victory and sovereignty, gives us the courage to say "I do not understand, but I do believe".

Some might feel that they have been cheated in some way, but it should not prevent us from feeling compassion for those who are sick, and wanting to pray for them. Healing is how the individual who is sick responds to the intervention of prayer and, ultimately, God's healing power. Not how the Christian who prays feels about the outcome.

The suffering person can see people around who care and want to join with them in their suffering. Thank Christ Jesus for this and the blessed promise he has made to be with them through even the darkest hour. Thousands of saints stand as proof that he will never leave you or forsake you. "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil."

What is clear, though, is that nothing is impossible for God, and that through persistent prayer, the Father can and does respond to our heartfelt requests.