Healing

The day has come for Bart's neck surgery.  We will be glad to have it behind us.   There's always stress caused by surgery -- the idea of someone you love being unconscious is unnerving.  And there's also that thing where the anesthesiologist has to remind you of the possible complications including death.   That's always fun.

I was thinking today of how much we pray for each other when we are in need of physical healing.  For some reason, this seems to be an acceptable prayer request.  "Can you please pray for so and so?  He's having surgery today" would be something that most of us feel comfortable doing.   But physical healing isn't the only thing out there.

I've often wondered what it would look like to be in a place where things like this could be said.

• Please pray for my son who is in jail right now.  He's supposed to having court soon and is hoping to get into Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge as an alternative to prison; or
• Please pray for my son who is begging to come home after Job Corps, but who cannot live with us because of his mental health issues; or
• Please pray for my daughter today as she has to file for child support for her youngest child.

Those three things are all true in our family today.   But I would not feel comfortable having those things on the prayer chain at church or putting those as prayer requests in the bulletin or even mentioning them to many of my acquaintances.

The reality is that sometimes physical healing is  the simplest kind of healing that we ask for.   Emotional healing, spiritual healing, and psychological healing is way more difficult and can take a lot longer.

I wonder if we could be more open about the other kinds of healing that are needed and if more people prayed about those things, if we would see results?  Or feel more supported?  Or ... the possibilities are endless.  

Today I'm reminding myself that yes, I will pray for healing for Bart's neck, but that I need to pray more about other kinds of  healing that my friends and family need that I know that are more complex.   

Because Jesus is the healer -- not just of our bodies, but our hearts, souls, and minds as well.