La Miseria (1886), Venezuelan painter Cristobal Rojas (1857-1890)
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Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
–Psalm 103:1-5
O Lord, I thank and praise you for all your benefits, and especially now for your miracles of healing. Thank you for the capacity for healing built into my mind and body, and for the many times that you have protected me from harm or brought healing to my body, even without my awareness. Thank you for the gifts of medicine and surgery, for the work of doctors and nurses, and for the research that leads to better health and longer life.
Thank you for the healing touch of your Holy Spirit upon my life. Beyond all this, I thank you for the final healing of the resurrection. Looking to Jesus, I believe that your will for me is not sickness and death, but health and wholeness of life. As I pray for health, show me that my prayers will be answered; either now, or, in the fullness of the life to be. Amen.
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Be with us all, Lord.
When we get sick, help us get well and live well.
And when we must die, help us to die well, keeping us faithful unto our end. Amen.
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PRAYING FOR SOMEONE ELSE WHO IS ILL:
O Father of mercies and God of all comfort, you are our help in time of need: Look down from heaven, we pray, and behold, visit, and relieve this Thy servant, now ill. Strengthen him to do what he has to do and to bear what he has to bear. Look upon him with the eyes of Thy mercy, comfort him with a sense of Thy goodness, preserve him from the temptations of the enemy, give him patience under his affliction, and in Thy good time restore him to health; and then, enable him to lead the rest of his life in faith and with a thankful heart. Or else, give him grace so to accept Thy will, so that, after this painful life is ended, he may dwell with Thee in life everlasting, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Book of Common Prayer
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PRAYING FOR YOURSELF WHEN YOU ARE ILL:
Lord Jesus Christ, you are the only source of health for the living, and you promise eternal life to the dying who die in you. I entrust myself to your holy will. If you wish me to stay longer in this world, I pray that you will heal me of my present sickness. If you wish me to leave this world, I readily lay aside this mortal body, in the sure hope of receiving an immortal body which shall enjoy everlasting health. I ask only that you relieve me of pain, so that whether I live or die, I may rest, peaceful and contented.
–Erasmus (1466-1536)
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Merciful and healing Lord, for some reason which I do not understand, the usual pattern of my daily life has been disrupted. You are asking me to give up the familiar and comfortable routine of my life and work, and to struggle for a while with this unfamiliar and uncomfortable pain.
Lord, sit beside me now and help me to learn the purpose which this illness is to accomplish. Help me to see how much and how often I have relied on my own strength, my own cleverness, and my own ability. Bless all who are now assisting me with my necessities. Forgive my pride that does not let me depend on you.
In my illness, help me to see that I am truly well when I remember that I belong to you. If it be your will, restore me to health and a life of active service.
Should you decide to lead me along a different path, enable me to say, “Your will be done.” I leave it all in your divine hands of love, knowing that your way is the best way. Help me always to remember that what happens to me here is of little account if you hold me in eternal life.
Fill me with the life of the Spirit, that in Christ I may be blessed and be a blessing to others. Hear my prayer, Lord Jesus, for I am your child. Amen.
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Prayer after healing: O Lord God, who in tender mercy has prolonged my days in this world: Give me grace to spend in thy service this life which you have lengthened. Grant that the remainder of my time I may live at peace with myself, at peace with the whole world, and at peace with Thee. Amen.
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Exodus 15:26 — …I am the Lord, who heals you.
Jeremiah 17:14 — Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.
Psalm 41:3-4 — The Lord sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness. I said, “Have mercy on me, Lord; heal me, for I have sinned against you.”
Psalm 73:26 — My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Jeremiah 30:17 — “I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,” declares the Lord.
III John 1:2 — Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.
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