Lord God, the Great Physician, you are our refuge and strength, our very present help,
Today, as we take time to sit with the reality of chronic illness in our families and our world,
we remember all those who have been impacted by sickness and suffering.
Our hearts turn their focus towards those living with MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS & OTHER NEUROLOGICAL CONDITIONS:
Be close to those whose nerves misfire and muscles fatigue.
Walk with those who plan each step like a pilgrimage.
When their bodies do not obey their will, be the strength needed to endure the weakness.
Renew their inner life day by day.
Give courage for the long appointments, the quiet adjustments, the invisible battles.
Surround each one with companions who will not grow weary of kindness.
Give them comradery with the first missionaries in 2 Corinthians 4:16 who join us in suffering, as the apostle Paul writes that “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
Remind us that Isaiah 40:29–31 says that you “give power to the faint, and strengthen the powerless… those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.”
Our hearts turn their focus towards those living with ASTHMA & RESPIRATORY ILLNESS:
Lord, you formed us from the dust and breathed into us the breath of life.
Breathe again on your sons and daughters whose lungs feel tight,
whose nights are interrupted by fear and wheezing,
whose days are measured by inhalers and peak-flow numbers.
Steady the breath. Calm the panic. Bring your peace.
Bless the medicines, the doctors, the therapies, the wisdom to pace each day.
Let every breath become a prayer: “Holy Spirit, fill me. Christ, be near.”
Give them comradery with the disciples in John 20:19, who when reunited with Jesus after his suffering, death, and resurrection, were embraced by their saviour, who ‘breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”’
Remind Us of the words of Acts 17:25 that name you God as the who “ gives everyone life and breath and everything else.”
Our hearts turn their focus towards those living with ALZHEIMER’S & DEMENTIA:
Lord, you are the God who never forgets;
Hold those whose memories are clouding,
whose stories slip through their fingers like water.
When a name hides, when rooms feel strange, when fear steals the moment,
be the Good Shepherd who knows his own by name.
Preserve dignity. Protect tenderness. Anchor all of our identities in your love.
Give them comradery with Paul who longs for a future where we know and are known with fullness of transparency, trust and clarity, when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:12 – “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
Remind us that you have spoken, in Isaiah 49:15–16 – “I will not forget you. See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”
Our hearts turn their focus towards those living with, and in the shadow of CANCER:
Christ Jesus, nothing can separate us from your love—
not diagnosis, not surgery, not chemo, not radiation, not fatigue that drags on and settles in our bones.
Walk with your people through the valley of the shadow,
set a table in the infusion room,
anoint heads that have lost their hair with the oil of gladness,
Bring rest to anxious nights and appointments that won’t end.
Number our days with mercy and fill them with meaning. When we fear the unknown, meet us with your presence that does not let go.
Give them comradery with the visionary John who foresaw a future where, as it says in Revelation 21:4 – “God will wipe every tear from their eyes; death will be no more.”
Remind us that as Psalm 23:4 says, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me.”
Our hearts turn their focus towards those living with TUMOR DISEASES & RARE GENETIC CONDITIONS:
Creator of every cell and keeper of every heartbeat, we remember those whose bodies seem to have betrayed them; for those whose scans bring anxiety, whose diagnoses are rare, whose treatments are complex.
For those whose tumors return and multiply, be strength in the waiting, wisdom for every doctor, peace for every sleepless night.
When uncertainty feels endless, remind them that your mercy is never exhausted.
When their bodies are marked by surgery and scars, remind them that Christ’s body bears scars too.
Give endurance and hope that outlasts fear.
Remind us that you are never surprised, that you have been with us, and aware of our bodies’ workings since before our birth, as Psalm 139:13–16 says “you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb… My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in that secret place.”
Give them comradery with your witness Job who affirmed in Job 10:8–12 that “your hands shaped me and made me… you clothed me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews.”
Our hearts turn their focus towards those that live with DIABETES & AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS:
God whose mercies are new every morning, be near to those who live by numbers and needles, whose energy rises and falls like a tide.
In the counting and checking, in the meal plans and alarms,
be rest for the weary and wisdom for each choice.
When the body turns against itself, be the defender within.
Let “My grace is sufficient for you” become daily manna.
Strengthen hearts that feel fragile and make routines means of grace.
Give them comradery with the defeated–exiled prophet Jeremiah, who wrote in Lamentations 3:22–23 that “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.”
Remind us of your promise in Matthew 11:28–30 when you said “Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
Our hearts turn their focus toward those living with FIBROMYALGIA & CHRONIC PAIN:
Lord who knows our frame, who remembers we are dust, who receives the sighs too deep for words.
When pain camps in bones and nests in muscles, when mornings begin with a negotiation and nights end with a plea, carry your children.
Gentle Healer, touch nerves, quiet inflammation, steady the storm.
Where pain remains, hold your people in patience and peace.
Keep despair far away. Keep hope within reach; let your church be a soft place to land.
Give them comradery with the psalmist who declares in Psalm 119:50 that “This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.”
Remind us that you share in our suffering, as the prophet writes in Isaiah 63:9 “In all their distress [God] too was distressed…”
Our hearts turn their focus to those living with DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, TRAUMA & ALL FORMS OF MENTAL ILLNESS:
God of Elijah in the desert and David in the cave, draw near to those living with depression, anxiety, bipolar, OCD. be near to those living with trauma that wakes in the night and shadows in the day.
Be near to those who dare not trust their mind or their perception.
Speak your kind question: “What are you doing here?” and your kind command: “Eat, rest.”
Guard hearts and minds with the peace of Christ.
Bless with therapy and medication as gifts, not defeats.
When a soul is cast down, teach it to speak of HOPE, of PURPOSE, and of a FUTURE.
Give companions who listen more than they fix, and a church that says, “you are not a problem to solve. you are a person to love.”
Give them comradery with the Saints of ancient Philippi who received the call to trust in God, found in Philippians 4:6–7 – “Do not be anxious about anything… and the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds.”
Remind us of the powerful words of Psalm 34:18 that “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
Our hearts turn their focus to those living as CAREGIVERS:
Burden-Bearer and Gentle Shepherd, we pray for those who carry schedules and swallow fears, who make a thousand small decisions no one sees, who sit by bedsides and wait in parking lots, who advocate, translate, arrange, lift, wait, and sacrifice with long-suffering love.
grant strength without hardness, tenderness without depletion.
Help them receive help. Give them holy rest and honest laughter.
And let the church fulfill its call to bear one another’s burdens.
Let them hear the voice of Jesus, as he calls to his followers in Mark 6:31, saying: “Come away and rest a while.”
Give them comradery with the residents of East Jerusalem, who came out to see Jesus and heard the truth of his words, as recorded in Matthew 25:40 – “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Remind us of the truth of Rahab’s words when she named God in Genesis 16:13, when she said “you are the God who sees me.”
Holy Spirit, come.
Knit us together in compassion.
Pour courage into tired bodies and calm into anxious minds.
Give wisdom to clinicians and resilience to households.
Plant hope where the ground feels salted and it seems like nothing can grow.
Make your Church a community that does not hurry lament, that does not withhold joy, that tells the truth, and refuses to let anyone suffer alone
you showed us what that kind of Love looks like.
Christ, you have overcome the world.
Not through power — but through weakness.
Not by avoiding suffering — but by entering it with love.
Lift our eyes without denying our tears.
Settle our minds without ignoring our questions.
Hold our hearts without rejecting our pain.
Give all of us the comradery of the great cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 12:1, so that we may have the courage to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
Remind us of the leadership of Moses, courage of Joshua, the strength of David, the wisdom of Solomon, and the faithfulness of the author of Hebrews, found in Deuteronomy 31:8, Joshua 1:5, 1 Chronicles 28:20, 1 Kings 8:57, & Hebrews 13:5 when they tell us “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified … for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Remind us that you have reaffirmed this promise to us in the commission given by Jesus in Matthew 28:20, when He said “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
We love you,
We trust you,
We praise you,
In the name of Jesus, our wounded healer, broken saviour, and victorious resurrected Lord,
we pray,
Amen.