Daily Word of Grace # 177 (November 18, 2020)
An especially powerful prayer in The Book of Common Prayer is this prayer for healing: “I lay my hands upon you in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, beseeching him to uphold you and fill you with his grace, that you may know the healing power of his love. Amen” (456). One of the innumerable benefits of God’s love is healing—healing the wounds in your heart that are there (and may have been there a very long time), healing the wounds inflicted on you by others, healing the wounds inflicted on you by yourself, healing the wounds that you never talk about, healing the wounds you thought you had finally gotten over until something reminds you that no, you have not gotten over it at all. The Old Testament prophet Malachi prophesied, “The sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings” (Malachi 4:2). That “sun of righteousness” is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Son of Righteousness. Through the wounds inflicted on Jesus on Good Friday, scripture assures you that you have been and will be healed (Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24). The Risen Jesus indeed has “the name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:9), and scripture assures us, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21). As indicated in the above prayer, it is the grace of God (and only the grace of God) that can “uphold you and fill you” with God’s healing love—and that grace is available to you even now.
Love and Prayers,
Dave