Here is the pastoral prayer from Covenant Presbyterian Church in Oviedo, Florida for last Sunday, August 15, 2010, which ruling elder Jon Boardman has consented to share with us. Even if you do not know the stories of the people named, this prayer is a good reflection on our Father’s heart for us.
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Pastoral Prayer
Covenant Presbyterian Church, Oviedo, Florida
8/15/2010
Jon Boardman

Jehovah-rapha – “The LORD who heals”

When Moses led Israel from the Red Sea into the wilderness, the people wandered the desert for three days without water. When they came to the waters of Marah, it was too bitter to drink.

However, God made the water sweet, and the LORD made a decree: “If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am Jehovah-rapha [the LORD who heals].”

God is in the business of turning the bitterness of life into the sweetness of redemption. Our souls are sick, yet God heals us. Sin casts its mortal wound on our souls, but Jesus, the Shepherd and Guardian of our soul, has restored us. He is the Great Physician, the Balm of Gilead, and our Great Redeemer.

Let us seek his mercy and healing hand this morning.

Jehovah-rapha, we come to You this morning in great need of Your healing touch.

With the psalmist we declare: “Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases; he redeems my life from the pit and crowns me with love and compassion.” (Ps. 103:2-4).

It is to Your love and compassion we look.

We carry wounds with us that only Your loving, surgical hand can mend.

We have deep spiritual wounds, emotional and mental wounds, and physical wounds. Yet no wound is too great for You to heal.

This morning we pray for those with deep spiritual wounds.

Ours sins are many, but many of us carry sins and guilt that weigh us down and render us hopeless.

There are those in Your midst who live with secrets in their hearts that they even try to hide from You, but You know every area of their souls.

We pray for those who grapple with abiding sin or addictive behaviors.

We ask that you break the bonds of addiction, pornography, gambling, gossip, bitterness, unforgiveness, and hatred.

Often times our hearts are full of rage; they are overwhelmed with doubt; they are rebellious, blemished and lonely.

We fail to come to You because we feel shame for our sin and we feel contempt for ourselves or for You for not freeing us from it.

But You do have the power to free us from both our guilt and our condemnation.

Help us to know and trust the power of Christ and to know the truth that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”

We pray also for those with deep emotional and mental wounds.

There may exist bitterness due to unforgiveness, spite due to betrayal, hardness of heart due to ill-treatment, and deep anxiety due to abandonment.

Many of Your people have been deeply wounded by earthly relationships — by those who have abused rather than protected, by reckless fathers, by indifferent mothers, by jealous siblings, by prejudicial people, by malicious peers, or by careless friends.

We ask that You turn their sorrow into gladness and their fears into confidence.

We affirm the words of the psalmist who said that the LORD “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

We pray especially for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one.

Bind up their wounds and mend their hearts. We ask that as they walk through the valley of the shadow of death, they would find comfort and confidence in You.

We pray for those who have physical wounds. We know that not all physical illnesses are the consequences of personal sin, but some are.

If there is sin in our lives that brings illness, bring it to light, and help us to repent. Forgive us and heal us.

If the illness is due to other causes, we ask for Your mercy.

We ask for relief from the pain and anguish that disease and illnesses bring to our bodies.

Specifically, we pray for Lisa, Jim, Joseph, Rod’s grandson (Scott), and many of our loved ones who are wounded by such illness.

Turn their bitter diseases into the sweetness of life.

We also pray for our covenant children who face the prospect of being inflicted by so many wounds from sin, the world, and the devil.

As parents we cannot shield them from such wounds, but we trust in our Heavenly Father to protect them and heal them as they are confronted with the harshness of this side of heaven.

As our children return to school, public, private, or home, we ask that they would grow in faith and trust in You.

For all of us, we ask that You heal us and save us.

For You are our praise.

For it is in the name of Jesus we pray.

Amen.