Praying the Word: When You’re Worried about Your Health
Editor’s Note: As always, we encourage you to reach out to a doctor or medical professional when experiencing physical or mental health concerns.
The italicized sections below were produced by the R|M team to frame this within our ongoing “Praying the Word” series. For other entries, click here.
On the surface, prayer seems simple. It’s talking to God. But in practice, we may have a lot of questions. “Am I doing this right? Is there a ‘right’ way to do it? What am I supposed to say? Are there things I shouldn’t pray about?” Or maybe we feel pretty comfortable with praying, but we struggle with getting bored or losing focus.
Whatever our struggles with prayer, Scripture can be helpful. As Donald Whitney explains, “Praying the Bible isn’t complicated. Read through a few verses of Scripture, pause at the end of each phrase or verse, and pray about what the words suggest to you.” (You can read more from Donald Whitney about how to pray Scripture, in this article.)
In the Praying the Word series, we’ll take the idea of praying Scripture and make it practical by sharing a passage of Scripture, an example prayer, and some guided questions to help you make it your own. The example prayer might serve as a model, or you can use it as a prayer for yourself. As you give this a try, don’t worry if it feels awkward or you’re not sure what to say. Remember, the power of prayer doesn’t come from the words we say, but from the One who hears them.
Example Scripture
James 4:13-15
[13] Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—
[14] Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
[15] Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
Heavenly Father, I confess that sometimes I feel envious of the people in verse 13. They have it all mapped out. They know what they are going to do. They know when they are going to do it. They are even certain of the result—that all will go very well for them.
I know in theory what your Word says: they are not really in control of their lives. But, day-to-day, I confess that I’d love to feel a similar certainty that my plans will become reality. I know that when I worry about my health, my deeper fear is that my life won’t turn out exactly as I’d like it to—you know how I fear for myself and for my children. Lord God, please help me to trust you, whatever you have planned for me.
When I worry about my health, I’m very aware that I don’t know what will happen tomorrow—what the tests will reveal, what the outcome will be, what my life will look like. I’m also aware that my life is a ‘mist.’ Thank you, Father, that your solution to my health worries is not for me to stop feeling ‘mist-like’—to play pretend. When I face my frailty, please help me not to despair but instead depend on you, my loving Heavenly Father. I praise you for the hope I have in your Son: one day I will be in your presence forever, clothed in a glorious new body which will not grow weary or wear out.
Thank you, Lord, that nothing—not sickness or anything else—can thwart your will for my life or shorten the length of time you have given me. Please help me to say from a heart of humility, “If the Lord wills, I will live.”
I praise you that before the beginning of time, you determined the number of days to give me, and that number really is right and best for me (Psalm 139:16). Let this knowledge free me from worries about my life and my health. Please help me to believe Jesus when he says, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” (Luke 12:25). And grant me rest in the knowledge that your purpose for my life will play out.
Make it Your Own
Praise God: What things in this Scripture passage give you reasons to praise God and thank him for who he is and what he’s doing? Give him both general and specific thanksgiving and come into his presence rejoicing.
Confess: What things do you need to tell God about how your heart or actions might veer (intentionally or unintentionally) toward self-reliance or even disobedience? Where have you trusted in your own wisdom or resisted his presence, commands, and care?
Share Your Heart: What things do you need to tell the Lord from a place of concern and humility? What questions linger, what worries do you harbor, and what do you need to hand over to him?
Ask: Where do you need wisdom? What help and grace do you need? Let the Lord know where you are weak and what specific things you need, letting him have the final and perfect say in how those needs are met and prayers are answered.
