Pray for healing? Or not?

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Gertabelle

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On Palm Sunday I seriously injured my left hand. In the first surgery, my index finger was removed below the second knuckle, and my remaining three fingers were sewn and pinned back together. In a future surgery, I may have a nerve graft to restore sensation to my middle finger. I am a musician (piano, guitar, harp, recorder) and have been playing piano for mass for years. I had been planning on taking violin and organ lessons in the coming year.

On Easter Sunday, my friend’s father encouraged me to pray to Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, for whom I have a special affinity. He encouraged me to do this partly because of her cause for canonization. Well, I have no problem praying a novena to this godly woman and I found a beautiful one here. But I have a very difficult time asking for the healing of my hand – miraculous, or “normal.” Shouldn’t I leave the future of my hand, my music, my teaching (I’m a music teacher) in God’s hands? I mean, shouldn’t I be surrendering to His Will and letting Him do with this situation whatever pleases Him? Rather than healing, shouldn’t I be praying for the strength to do His will, the grace to love and serve Him?

SO MUCH GOOD, so many graces, so many opportunities to talk about God’s love and to encourage others to seek Him have already come from this accident. God is free to use me as He wills.

So, how can I pray for healing? But is it wrong not to pray for healing?

I’m in a muddle.

Gertie
 
the simple answer is, pray for both, say as Jesus said in the garden, “Father, if thou wilt, remove this chalice from me: but yet not my will, but thine be done.”

ask God simply, “if it is your will, i ask for healing, but if it is not your will, i ask for strength and courage”
or however you would word it,
it is important to pray in all things, to seek Gods help in all things, even things like this where you might think that it is Gods will that you stay the way you are, but we never know for sure, God could very well want to cure you so that others may instead benefit from your miraculous healing,

we just never truly know, and so we should pray to God in all things “Thy will be done” not expecting one way or the other, but only accepting whatever it pleases God to send us.
of course there is nothing wrong with specific requests, just as long as we are willing to accept Gods answers to those requests, whatever they may be.

so i would say yes, you should ask, simply because God says “ask and you shall receive” and it very well could be that it is actually Gods will that you should be healed, and He is simply waiting for you to ask.

ok i hope this helps, take care.
 
I second EmeraldWings—pray for whatever God’s will is.

I’ve never had a broken limb, or anything else requiring hospitalization in many many years, but a week before Easter I did get rather ill, with me being bedridden for almost halfdays during the weekend (during the weekdays I’m in school), and I could hardly sing for Holy Week liturgies and the Palm Sunday concert (I’m in the adult choir)----I could also barely mutter the words out of the Order of Compline (Book of Divine Worship) which I use as my evening prayer. The illness continued for about a week or so after Easter Sunday, tapering itself down throughout the week.

Now, I didn’t pray for healing because I had other issues on my mind that I wanted to pray for, and I knew it was just a seasonal illness.

However, since your livelihood depends on the use of your hands, I would highly encourage you to continue whatever prayers you are saying now—not to make light of your situation at all, but from there we can only trust in the Lord, who knows what we need even before we ask. May the Lord heal you, if it be His sovereign will.

Paul R. Viola
 
I am sorry to hear about your injury.

I sometimes wrestle with the question you are asking as it pertains to healing or even prayer in general. God knows our thoughts, needs, and desires even without us telling him. So, why pray for a particular need? Is God going to love us more because we prayed? Is it like if we say just one more prayer then He will love us enough to answer the prayer?

As far I can figure out… Prayer creates a change within us. God does not change. When we ask God for things we’re also expressing our dependence on him and acknowledging that he is in control of all of the details of our lives. Prayer is surrender. We are admitting to God and to ourselves that we are helpless to change a particular situation. Once we have completely given up our control and let God have it, then we are open to His work within our lives.

The only other thing that I can say is that it works! You have done yourself a great service by posting on this forum. You are likely to receive many prayers.
 
EmeraldWings said:
the simple answer is, pray for both, say as Jesus said in the garden, “Father, if thou wilt, remove this chalice from me: but yet not my will, but thine be done.”

ask God simply, “if it is your will, i ask for healing, but if it is not your will, i ask for strength and courage”
or however you would word it,
it is important to pray in all things, to seek Gods help in all things, even things like this where you might think that it is Gods will that you stay the way you are, but we never know for sure, God could very well want to cure you so that others may instead benefit from your miraculous healing,

we just never truly know, and so we should pray to God in all things “Thy will be done” not expecting one way or the other, but only accepting whatever it pleases God to send us.
of course there is nothing wrong with specific requests, just as long as we are willing to accept Gods answers to those requests, whatever they may be.

so i would say yes, you should ask, simply because God says “ask and you shall receive” and it very well could be that it is actually Gods will that you should be healed, and He is simply waiting for you to ask.

ok i hope this helps, take care.
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Thanks for this post, especially the reference to Jesus’ prayer in His agony in the garden. I had considered your thought about God just waiting for us to ask Him, and that makes sense. When coupled to a joyful surrender to God’s will, it seems like the right thing to do.

I guess the real issue is that my heart just isn’t rallying around asking for healing. I had been really growing into an appreciation of offering our sufferings as prayer when this happened. And the suffering from this seems like such a rich source of grace – for myself and those for whom I’m praying. But I don’t want to put my own understanding, or how I think things should be, ahead of my surrender to God.

“Lord, give me what you will, and through your grace I’ll use it for your glory.”

Gertie
 
Angelic and Mtndweller, thanks for your thoughtful replies. I’d say more but it’s late and typing with one hand has lost its charm 😛 God bless you.

Gertie
 
This morning at mass I suddenly knew what to pray in my novena to Blessed Teresa of Calcutta:

“Obtain for me from the heart of Jesus the healing of my hand according to His perfect will.”

Thanks for your prayers and for sharing your thoughts on my questions.

Gertie
 
Gertabelle said:
Thanks for this post, especially the reference to Jesus’ prayer in His agony in the garden. I had considered your thought about God just waiting for us to ask Him, and that makes sense. When coupled to a joyful surrender to God’s will, it seems like the right thing to do.
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Very well said.
Gertabelle said:
I guess the real issue is that my heart just isn’t rallying around asking for healing. I had been really growing into an appreciation of offering our sufferings as prayer when this happened. And the suffering from this seems like such a rich source of grace – for myself and those for whom I’m praying. But I don’t want to put my own understanding, or how I think things should be, ahead of my surrender to God.
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This is a wonderful attitude of submission to God. Seeing you accept His will even in such suffering, and appreciate His will, and surrender to it and grow from it in the trial, is inspirational to me to accept all future sufferings with the same grace.
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Gertabelle:
This morning at mass I suddenly knew what to pray in my novena to Blessed Teresa of Calcutta:

“Obtain for me from the heart of Jesus the healing of my hand according to His perfect will.”
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Do you think you might want to consider offering the novena with a double intention? Blessed Teresa of Calcutta endured the dark night of the spirit for decades. She endured unimaginable spiritual suffering and through it gave great glory to God. Perhaps you might consider asking that Jesus heal your hand if it is His will, but that if it is not His will, He cover you and those for whom you are interceding with graces through the suffering, as He did through Mother Teresa’s dark night.
 
Lief_Erikson said:
Do you think you might want to consider offering the novena with a double intention? Blessed Teresa of Calcutta endured the dark night of the spirit for decades. She endured unimaginable spiritual suffering and through it gave great glory to God. Perhaps you might consider asking that Jesus heal your hand if it is His will, but that if it is not His will, He cover you and those for whom you are interceding with graces through the suffering, as He did through Mother Teresa’s dark night.
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I think what I am learning is that the most important thing is to offer God everything – I mean, to learn to consecrate to God every moment and every response to those moments. “If God puts you in a castle, you serve Him from the castle. If He puts you in the street, serve Him from the street. We don’t put ourselves in the castle or the street. God sends us and we serve Him.” That’s a very loose memory of something Bl. Teresa said.

The novena I am using can be found at this website: Mother Teresa Cause

It’s actually quite focused on growing in faith in Christ rather than getting something from God. I LOVE that about it!

God bless you.

Gertie
 
God bless you too :). I think He has blessed you with a lot of wisdom.
 
I received yesterday a prayer card with a 3rd class relic of Bl Teresa on it. Today a friend of mine told me she thinks she may a recurrence of the ovarian cancer that struck her last summer --she is out of work, has no insurance, and is the legal guardian of her 6 year old grandson. So I gave the card to her 😃 I suppose a novena is just as good without the relic, and now I have an additional petition to add into the mix 👍

If you read this, please keep her in your prayers.

Gertie
 
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Gertabelle:
This morning at mass I suddenly knew what to pray in my novena to Blessed Teresa of Calcutta:

“Obtain for me from the heart of Jesus the healing of my hand according to His perfect will.”
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My heart confirms this beautiful prayer of yours! I was very touched to read about your hand, and if I, as a human person, can feel such deep empathy, how much more does Our Lord? So many scriptures tell us that whenever anyone approached him, either for themselves or intercession for another in need of healing, Jesus “healed them all.” He even healed those who did not ask for it, simply through his merciful compassion.

Remember the reading last week from Acts where St. Peter healed the cripple at the gate? He didn’t ask for healing either, but Peter bestowed it through the power of the Spirit, when all he ask for was an alms.

I believe God is all-powerful and is able to bring your withered hand to wholeness. Trust Him for whatever way He may will to bless you. My prayers are with you!
 
IMO…its always…ALWAYS appropriate to pray for healing…and it pleases God that we exercises such faith in Him…

The amendment to that is that is also always.,always…approrpriate to pray “not my will, but thine be done”…

Dont ever feel embarrassed or even arrogant to pray “please heal me”…God understands that kind of prayer…He hears it all the time and understands the context and pain from which is comes…

It IS an appropriate prayer…

The “but not mine will, but then be done” shows that we, however, are humble to His reality and His timing and will…

He understands you…He understands your pain and your desire to be free of your pain…

He asks us to be humble to His over-all plan of salvation…

So …Confidently pray “please heal me” and then add with the same confidence …“but not my will, but thine be done”…

God Bless…
 
Gertabelle said:
. But I have a very difficult time asking for the healing of my hand – miraculous, or “normal.” Shouldn’t I leave the future of my hand, my music, my teaching (I’m a music teacher) in God’s hands? I mean, shouldn’t I be surrendering to His Will and letting Him do with this situation whatever pleases Him?
Gertie
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Jesus commanded us to pray for good things we need, including healing, and healed those who appealed to him, so yes we must pray for healing when we need it, physical or spiritual. The confusion seems to be in what prayer actually does, or is. Prayer is a plea for God to conform us to his will. So there is no conflict at all, when you pray for healing you are, as in all prayer, praying for his will for you to be done. If you can serve him best by being healed and return to your work, he will heal you. If your real need is deeper healing of something else, he will heal you. If your need and his will is for you to grow spiritually through this suffering, he will allow it for as long as he wishes to use it for your good. that itself is healing.
 
puzzleannie said:
Jesus commanded us to pray for good things we need, including healing, and healed those who appealed to him, so yes we must pray for healing when we need it, physical or spiritual. The confusion seems to be in what prayer actually does, or is. Prayer is a plea for God to conform us to his will. So there is no conflict at all, when you pray for healing you are, as in all prayer, praying for his will for you to be done. If you can serve him best by being healed and return to your work, he will heal you. If your real need is deeper healing of something else, he will heal you. If your need and his will is for you to grow spiritually through this suffering, he will allow it for as long as he wishes to use it for your good. that itself is healing.
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This is an excellent and very instructive post :). Thank-you for blessing me with it!
 
I have studied the gospels extensively regarding the healings of Jesus and also some very good authors on the subject, and considered it may be helpful to share a few of Francis McNutt’s thoughts from “Healing.”
Francis McNutt: I think it is fair to say that every time Jesus met with evil, spiritual or physical, he treated it as an enemy. Every time a sick person came to him in faith, Jesus healed that person. He did not divide man, as we so often do, into a soul to be saved and a body that is to suffer and remain unhealed. He came to save men — body and soul.
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Note that the apostles (Acts 4:29-30) did not pray to preach and to heal, but to preach by healing. They preached the message of salvation by actually continuing the works of Jesus. A doctrine of God’s salvation without the salvation actually taking place, or a concept of healing without the healing taking place, is empty rhetoric.
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Jesus gave the apostles the power to preach the same message of Good News that he himself preached. That message was not merely a doctrine; it contained the very power of God liberating man from the wretched state he was in. Healing is the ordinary answer to prayer.
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Both in the gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, it is stated that Jesus and Peter “healed them ALL.” I pray that our own faith in God’s mercy would enable us to approach him in prayer with confident expectancy, even as we pray, Thy Will be done.
 
Sirach2 said:
Both in the gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, it is stated that Jesus and Peter “healed them ALL.” I pray that our own faith in God’s mercy would enable us to approach him in prayer with confident expectancy, even as we pray, Thy Will be done.
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Remember Job, who Satan afflicted with terrible sores and physical ailments because God permitted it. God afflicted Job with disease. Also remember all the times the Old Testament, and in the Apocalypse, that describe Him sending plagues on kingdoms. Remember that St. Paul, during the Book of Acts, prayed against a man who was advising someone not to listen to the Gospel. The man was struck blind! And then there’s Ananias and Sapphira, who God killed because they lied to the Holy Spirit when they lied to Peter.

Paul wrote that he afflicted his flesh so that he might be saved. Suffering can be good for people and God can will it. It detaches people from themselves so that they are more reliant on God. Thus it causes them to become flexible in God’s hand. A host of the saints have spoken about how God uses suffering, including disease, to unite us with His Son on the Cross. Even saints that worked many miracles of healing have been struck with disease, because God willed it. St. Therese of Lisieux died of tuberculosis because God willed it (He healed her of illness on a previous occasion), not because she lacked faith.

Sometimes God desires to heal our bodies and other times He desires that we suffer for His sake.
 
Yes, I’m familiar with those scriptural examples, and I am not discounting them as though suffering has no value, or that it is not permitted by God for the spiritual benefit of a person. I’m just offering a glimpse of those scriptures which are too often neglected due to the overemphasis on “bearing one’s cross” because God sends suffering and does not wish us to ask him to heal our bodies, only our souls.
Even saints that worked many miracles of healing have been struck with disease, because God willed it.
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Thank you for noticing that many saints had the gift of healing, and not just occasionally, but a full ministry such as Brother André Bessette in Canada. He suffered personally while ministering to thousands of sick ---- and his suffering was perhaps the very source of his fruitfulness for others.
 
Thank-you :). That was a wise post. God’s work is vast and I like very much your approach of looking at both sides of what He does.

It’s also neat for me to learn about André Bessette. I didn’t know about him, but now I’m curious!
 
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