Praying the Scriptures {When You Need Healing}

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Today I have the honor of having Candace from His Mercy is New and the author of Wait Only Upon God on The Architect and the Artist. I absolutely love her heart and her love of God's Word. If you have spent any amount of time here you know that hope and healing are themes I keep coming back to. There are times when we are so incredibly broken and need the healing touch of a Savior. Read as Candace describes how to pray Scriptures during the healing process...

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." Isaiah 61:1-3

This passage in Isaiah is one of my favorite passages about Jesus. It is a foreshadowing or a prophecy about Him which He came to fulfill. I love knowing that Jesus came for those such as the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the prisoners, the mourners, the grieving. I love it because those words describe me and I bet if you were honest they would describe you, too. Jesus came because this world was in desperate need of a Savior. You and I may not be poor by the world's standards, but we may be poor in spirit. We may not be imprisoned behind actual bars, but we may be imprisoned by our own insecurities and fears. We may not be mourning today, but at some point we will be. Jesus came for you and me. When we are in need of healing, I think we should remember that Jesus came for us, too. So much of Jesus' ministry while He walked here on earth was healing those He came into contact with.

  "Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people." Matthew 4:23

I love that so often in the Scriptures we see Jesus on His journey through various towns and villages and whenever He entered a new place and saw the crowds of people, His response was the same: compassion.

"When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick." Matthew 14:13

"Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 'I have compassion for these people...'" Matthew 15:32

 "Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him." Matthew 20:34

 Jesus was full of compassion for the hurting, and He is full of compassion for you. I think one important distinction to make is to remember that we aren't always physically or mentally or relationally healed while here on earth. Sometimes, our healing doesn't take place until we see Jesus face to face. Sometimes the healing doesn't happen right away, like it did when Jesus walked this earth. Sometimes it does and we know that God is most certainly able. But, sometimes He has more in store for us in our times of brokenness and He takes us through the valley for a purpose. One thing I have learned through my years of struggling with depression is that the Lord is good and faithful. He had His purposes for taking me through the valley. He drew me to Himself, He was forming me more and more into His image, He was teaching me about His love and His sacrificial love for us, He was showing me a tiny glimpse of His suffering for me. He comforted me, without taking my pain away, so that I might one day be a comfort to others.

5 Verses to Pray When You Need Healing

1. Proverbs 16:24 "Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." Lord, help me to speak gracious words, to be grateful, to count my blessings even in my time of desperate need.

2. Psalm 6:2 "Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony." Lord, have mercy on me, I am faint of heart. Heal me, heal my heart, heal my relationships, heal my broken places with your perfect wholeness.

3. Psalm 147:3 "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." Lord, you tell me in Your Word that you heal the brokenhearted and you bind up their wounds. Do this in me, may it be so, Lord.

4. Isaiah 53:5 "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." Lord, You were pierced for me, You were crushed for my sin, the punishment that allows me to have peace was upon You, by Your wounds I am healed. I praise You!"

 5. Isaiah 57:18 "I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners." Lord, You see me, You even see the wickedness and sin in my own heart...yet You promise to heal. Help me to trust You for restoration. Help me to trust Your timing.

For me, praying the Scriptures is about my heart and my walk with God. I cannot go into prayer or any conversation with God expecting Him to change someone else. The peace that He gives, it's free for the taking...but that peace comes as a result of trust. We must trust that He is sovereign and He has a plan, even in this messy relationship. We must trust that even in times of brokenness, He is loving and good. We must trust that His Word is true even when all around us falls apart. This act of trust and submission always leads to peace. 

The Lord does His best work when we are waiting on Him. I believe that this is also when He does His best healing work. Waiting on Him doesn't mean we are waiting on Him to change the circumstances or miraculously take our painful situations away. Waiting on the Lord means we sit at His feet, enjoying His presence, and letting Him have His way in our lives. Waiting on God means we are full of hope no matter what is happening around us, because we trust in our faithful God. Join me for 40 days of learning to wait only on the Lord, beginning February 18th, with my new book, Wait only Upon God. You can find the print version on Amazon here.

Candace is just a messed up mama in need of God's fresh new mercies daily. She and her husband live with their 3 children in the beautiful foothills of the Smoky Mountains. She writes on her blog, His Mercy Is New, about her struggles with depression and gives encouragement through resources for Praying the Scriptures. She also shares daily prayers and Scriptures on instagram, if you'd like to follow her there! Follow the hashtag #prayingthescriptures to join along! If you'd like to see all her resources and printables for Praying the Scriptures, please head over to this page.