Gracious Master,Thank You for creating mankind with a desire to belong in community and to have purpose. This is Your design; we work shoulder to shoulder and produce a harvest of some kind, no matter what we do. Genesis 2:15 reveals that You put man in the garden to work it and care for it. Some still do that in farming and ranching. Others are gifted with a singing voice, communication, an imagination to write or their artist’s brush. Some are blessed with great logic or to work with numbers and formulas and calculations. All good work and productivity are ordained by You, Father God. You are so wonderful to give us talents to use for our work. We love accomplishment. We enjoy feeling productive and a part of something bigger than ourselves.So when times of extended illness settle in, people may feel they’ve lost their purpose. Energy must be reserved and work takes back burner. What once seemed so important may feel trivial. Or perhaps they miss it terribly and long to get back to what they loved doing. Our seasons change but You remain the same (Hebrews 13:8). I lift ___________________ to You, Lord, and ask that You reveal his/her new purpose, which I believe is to know You more, to reveal You to others and to trust You exclusively. There is no greater purpose.Father, please forbid self-pity. Stomp out resentment. Good fruit cannot come from these. I pray You would anoint ____________________ with the oil of joy in spite of grieving the loss of his/her former productivity. You do not measure a man by how much he has done; You look at the heart motives (1 Samuel 16:7). Please pour hope into his/her heart. Bring forth excitement for ministry opportunities. But let there be no pretense either. When bad days happen, I pray You would draw him/her to Your heart and just hold them tightly. We get to do that when we need to. We are so blessed to be held and ministered to. Sometimes our new job description is to allow Jesus to simply hold us. You are our peace. Be the One who wipes away our tears. Affirm ________________ that You are pleased with the positive attitude and flexibility he/she has. Comfort him/her with Your Holy Spirit to meet each day afresh and to do the work Your Father calls us to do . . . which ultimately is “to believe in the One He has sent.” (John 6:29) May it be _______________’s passion, to know You and trust You more.And, even at times when there is no physical energy to minister, may he/she continue as an intercessor for others. Impart wisdom and insight to pray powerfully and effectively according to James 5:16. His/her prayers matter much! Prayer changes things! Hear our prayers, O Lord. And ultimately, Father God, we echo Paul’s words, asking fulfillment in each of us, especially those who are suffering long term illnesses“[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope] That if possible I may attain to the [spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body]. Not that I have now attained [this ideal], or have already been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus (the Messiah) has laid hold of me and made me His own. (Philippians 3:10-12 Amplified)In the mighty Name of Jesus,Amen and amen.
Prayer for Finding Purpose During Illness
October 13, 2014 By
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