The Power of Prayer in Times of Ill Health!

24 Jan 2025 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jeremiah 17:14.       Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.

And the shouts have gone up: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday, with the weekend right around the corner!’ And the ole fella is back after a couple of days of illness. Please accept my apology for those two missed days. It seems that being out Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning in some very cold conditions didn’t agree with me, and when I came back from my church group on Wednesday morning I was tired, having had little sleep during the night, so obviously I had to have a nap. (smile) 

But during that supposed nap time, the chills began trembling my body, although I was wrapped up under heavy covers. Then my stomach joined in. At first, I thought I was hungry and got up to get something to eat. But lo and behold, whatever I ate came right back up. Now, regurgitation is something I don’t normally do, (smile) even the Duchess said she’s never seen me do it, but in less than 24 hours she saw or heard me do it six times. 

The problem apparently was a stomach pain that I’d had some years before, but after a whole lot of tests, they’d found nothing wrong, so they simply gave me some tablets to take whenever it occurred. And the few times the pain occurred; the tablets did take care of it. But not this past Wednesday. Brother! The whole day was a mixture of chills and stomach pains and regurgitation. 

And when the chills settled down in the afternoon, I thought about writing the Bit, but the stomach pain nixed that idea right in the bud, for it just got worse, and nothing I took could ease it. And it’s not to say that it was a bright and blazing pain, but a steady gnawing in the upper left side of my stomach, like some rodent was there just eating away at it, enough to drive me crazy, and not allow proper concentration. 

Well, on Thursday morning after the sixth regurgitation, tired, worn out and empty, I went to the Emergency Department of the nearby hospital. I got there at ten o’clock, but didn’t leave until five in the evening, having done all sorts of tests and waiting for reports to come back. And even then, there was no firm diagnosis, so pain tablets and further tests were prescribed. And that’s where we sit right now. Please pray that they come up with something firm and simple, very soon, because I don’t want to get addicted to this narcotic based pain medication. 

And I guess since we’ve been talking about illness and healing, we can just continue by renewing our hearts and minds on some scriptural truths on the subject. And there’s no better verse to begin with than this one from Isaiah. ‘But he (Jesus) was wounded (pierced through) for our transgressions, he was bruised (crushed) for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with (by) his stripes (cruel blows that cut into him) we are healed.’ (Is. 55:5) 

Then there are these marvellous words of encouragement from Bruh David in Psalm 103. ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with LOVING-KINDNESS and tender mercies. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that youth is renewed like the eagle’s.’ (Ps. 103:2-5) 

And there’s nothing better than Jesus’ personal touch, as Matthew recounts. ‘And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever. And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.’ (Matt. 8:14-15) Oh, how I wish could get such a touch from Jesus right now, so that this annoying pain could go away. I would certainly minister to Him with everything I have. (smile) 

Excuse me, but I just had to go upstairs and get another pill to ease the pain because the first one had apparently worn off. Ah Lord eh! But them’s the breaks, we simply have to keep on pressing on regardless. Then there’s this prayer from Jeremiah. ‘Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.’ (Jer. 17:14) Now, that’s my prayer for today my fellow believers. (smile) 

And scriptures on healing would not be complete without this one from James. ‘Is any among you afflicted (suffering)? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults (trespasses) one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual (effective) fervent prayer (supplication) of a righteous man availeth much.’ (James 5:13-16) 

And I would certainly appreciate some effective supplication from you righteous bredrin in our Scrip-Bit family. (smile)  Now, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant for divine aid to help in these times of desperate need. Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough…  because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. 

Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. 

And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ And before we do like the man who sees his face in the mirror and immediately forgets what he looks like, remember that we need to increase our Christian witness to get divine help Much LOVE!

…who is the Great Physician…Jehovah Rapha…the God who heals…our Jesus…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit 30 April 2017 Psalm 103:2.

30 Apr 2017 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Psalm 103:2.   Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

Aye friends, it’s a wet morning, as promised by the weather forecasters, so please get your hats, brollies and raincoats out for your trip to church today. 

And to open our section on praise and worship, we couldn’t do any better than this old Fanny Crosby hymn; ‘To God be the Glory.’ So let’s belt it out with sure confidence and trust, offering up the sacrifice of praise to heaven with our earthly voices. 

‘To God be the glory, great things He hath done, So loved He the world that He gave us His Son, Who yielded His life our redemption to win, And opened the life-gate that all may go in. 

(Refrain: Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the earth hear His voice; Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the people rejoice; Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son, And give Him the glory; great things He hath done.) 

Oh, perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, To every believer the promise of God; The vilest offender who truly believes, That moment from Jesus a pardon receives. (Refrain) 

Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done, And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son; But purer, and higher, and greater will be Our wonder, our transport when Jesus we see. 

(Refrain: Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the earth hear His voice; Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the people rejoice; Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son, And give Him the glory; great things He hath done.’ 

Oh my beautiful saints in Christ, our great God has certainly done great things, both in our individual lives and in the world! None greater though than the sacrificial offering of His sinless Son, Jesus Christ for the atonement of our abominable sins! 

Consequently, as grateful people, we ought to praise and thank Him with the very deepest of gratitude and sincerity, each and every moment that we breathe His wonderful and enabling breath of life! 

That’s why our Bit is ever so applicable, especially at this Easter Season of renewal and resurrection. ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.’ 

Now, if we are true believers, then I don’t see how we could ever do that. But unfortunately, there are many, Christians included, who do it. But I won’t get on that horse today, (smile) I’ll just continue to point out scripture that validate our Bit and the benefits proclaimed by Bruh David. 

And today we’ll look at the second part of verse 3: ‘who healeth all thy diseases.’ Now isn’t that something else! For our God is known as the Great Physician, the Great Healer! And that, He has certainly proven numerous times down during the ages. 

And if you don’t believe me, listen to Moses at the bitter waters of Marah, where the Israelites on their exodus from Egypt, threatened to rebel, until the Lord caused Moses to sweeten the waters. 

Then Moses made this rule for the people to test them. ‘If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.’ (Ex.15:26). 

Yeh mih people, remember the many plagues that the Lord brought down on Egypt when Pharaoh refused to let them go out of his bondage? Well the Lord promised then, and that promise still stands to this day, that if we are obedient to His will and law, that we won’t be plagued by sickness. 

But have you noticed that recently, despite our great advancements in medical science, that we are seeing the comeback of certain diseases that we thought we’d already conquered? 

And that there is also a big scare that the current strains of bacteria in our society are getting so powerful that our medicines can no longer kill them? 

I wonder why that is eh my people? Can it have something to do with our not following God’s will and law?   Selah. Yeh friends, think on that for a moment or two nuh. 

And we’ll close today with these immortal verses form Isaiah, re the suffering servant, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. ‘Surely he hath borne our griefs (sicknesses), and carried our sorrows (pains): yet we did esteem (reckon) him stricken, smitten of (struck down by) God, and afflicted. 

But he was wounded (pierced through) for our transgressions, he was bruised (crushed) for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes (terrible blows that cut into him) we are healed.’ (Is.53:4-5) 

Yeh mih breddren, plenty of us like to rhyme of that last verse without much thought of its true meaning, but today let’s sit down and ponder what it truly means nuh. Let’s consider its real purpose in our Christian lives, and how it is especially important in this Easter Season. Much LOVE!

…ALL healing comes from Almighty God…our Maker and Healer…through the suffering of Jesus…  

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 21 February 2017 1 Samuel 30:6b.

21 Feb 2017 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1 Samuel 30:6b.   …but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

Ah friends, these real late mornings are a killer yes! Going to bed at five in the morning does do justice to Shakespeare’s saying that to go to bed late is to be up early. (smile) 

But as they also say, better late than never. So though we might be somewhat late, we’re not irrelevant. (smile) That’s why they say too, that B.S. baffles brains! 

Anyway, on a serious note, let’s begin by offering up an interesting prayer a friend gave me a few days ago. There’s no title to it, but I’ll call it ‘Our Healing Prayer,’ and you’ll see why later on. 

So please pray with me. ‘Heavenly father, I call on You right now in a special way. It is through your power that I was created. Every breath I wake, I live under your power. Father, I ask you now to touch me with that same power. For if You created me from nothing, You can recreate me. 

Fill me with the healing power of Your Spirit. Cast out anything that should not be in me. Mend what is broken. Root out any unproductive cells, open any blocked arteries or veins and rebuild any damaged areas. Remove all inflammation and cleanse any infection. 

Let the warmth of your healing LOVE pass through my body to make new any unhealthy areas so that my body will function the way You created it to function. And Father restore me to full health in mind, body and spirit so that I may serve You for the rest of my life. I ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen!’ 

Now isn’t that just beautiful friends? It surely is! And what I like about it is that it gets right down to the nitty gritty, doesn’t pull any punches, it’s all about healing. And truthfully, nobody needs that kind of healing prayer right now more than me, as so many parts of my body are malfunctioning. 

And we all know that our mighty God’s name is Jehovah Rapha – The Lord our Healer. Yes friends, our God is the Great Physician. As the prayer says, if He created us, then he can surely fix us. So He should always be the first One we turn to for healing, in fact for everything. That’s what He sincerely desires of us. 

Now let’s turn to our Bit for today: ‘…but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.’ 

Ah mih people, I don’t know why, but that statement just kept churning in my mind this morning, so I figured the Lord wanted me to write on it. And you know what? It’s a very poignant statement. It occurs in the Good Book when Bruh David was running from Saul, and went to live with the Philistines, who set him up in the city of Ziklag. (1 Sam.27) 

Now on one particular occasion, when the Philistines were going to fight Saul and the Israelites, Bruh David and his men lined up with them. But though the Philistine king, Achish trusted Bruh David, his leaders did not, so they sent him back home to Ziklag. (1 Sam.29) 

But lo and behold, when David and his men get back to Ziklag, they discover that the Amalekites had struck in their absence and burned the town with fire. Luckily though, they had not slain the inhabitants but carried them away captive, including Bruh David’s two wives and family. 

And the first part of the verse that contains our Bit, tells us: ‘And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved (bitter), every man for his sons and daughters.’ (1 Sam.30:6a) 

Ah friends, yuh see the great responsibility and the built in frailty of leadership. None of Bruh David’s people considered that he had also lost his sons and daughters, they were only concerned about themselves. It just goes to show that when the heifer dust hits the fan, the true selfishness of man shines through. 

And that’s why my people, we keep saying to put no trust in man, but to lay it all in the Lord God our Creator, for He is the ONLY ONE you can trust when the chips fall. Now what would Bruh David have done if he didn’t have the Lord God of his forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to fall back on eh? Crapaud smoke ‘im pipe! 

Likewise friends, when things get real rough with us, and there seems to be nowhere to turn, we need to have that unconditional trust in our God that will enable us to encourage ourselves in Him. That’s when our faith needs to be ever so strong that we don’t even think about giving up and succumbing to the enemy’s lies and deceits. 

And what did Bruh David do in his untenable situation? The only wise and sensible thing; he turned to God in prayer, asking if he should go after the Amalekites or not. The Lord told him to pursue them, and through the Lord’s miraculous and mysterious workings, he found them and destroyed them and got back all his people and his goods. (1 Sam.30:7-20) 

Yes my people, our God is great, and if we sincerely seek Him, we will find Him, and He will help us. So please, let’s build that tower of faith nuh, so that in times of need, it will be there to keep us strong in the Lord God Jehovah, our Creator and Provider. 

Now let’s go home encouraging ourselves in the Lord by declaring, in all sincerity and truth, our Tuesday Mantra. 

As one now: ‘I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world.  Amen!’ 

And having said that, let’s go out now and put it all into action as our friend, our Lord and Saviour Jesus desires of us. Much LOVE!

…believe it when Jesus says……lo…I am with you always…even unto the end of the world… (Matt.28:20b)