This is is a chapter from a book by Rachel Lundy, a sweet follower of Jesus.
As a Christian with a chronic illness, I am grateful when people pray for me. I know that I need it! This life is hard, and I cannot do it on my own. I need strength and grace from the Lord, and dealing with dysautonomia reminds me of that every day. If you have a friend with chronic illness, praying for her regularly is something you can do. When someone is sick, it is common to pray for successful treatment and healing. God certainly can heal someone with a chronic illness, and those who know Jesus can come boldly to the throne of grace and ask for healing. But even though God is able to heal, that doesn’t mean He will heal here and now. It may be that His plan is to use the chronic illness to accomplish greater purposes that we cannot yet understand or see. So while you pray for healing for your friend, I encourage you to pray for more than just relief from physical suffering.
What can we pray for beyond physical healing? We can pray that our friend will grow closer to the Lord. We can pray that she will suffer well and be a faithful and godly testimony in the midst of suffering. If she doesn’t know Jesus as her Savior, we can pray for her salvation. Let’s look in the Bible to find some more direction for our prayers:
Pray that she will thirst for God and that she will hope in Him (Psalm 42:1, 5).
Pray that she will trust in the Lord (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Pray that she will be “joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12, NIV).
Pray that she will be filled with joy and peace and that she will abound in hope (Romans 15:13).
Pray that God will comfort her (2 Corinthians 1:4).
Pray that she will not lose heart and that she will look to the things that are unseen (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
Pray that God’s grace would be sufficient for her and that His strength would be made perfect in her weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Pray that she will be characterized by the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
Pray that she will not grow weary in doing good (Galatians 6:9).
Pray that she will have “the peace of God, that surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).
Pray that she will learn to be content in the circumstances in which God has placed her (Philippians 4:11-13).
Pray that God will provide for all of her needs (Philippians 4:19).
Pray that she will hold unswervingly to the hope she has professed (Hebrews 10:23).
Pray that she will commit herself to God and “continue to do good” (1 Peter 4:19, NIV).
from Chronic Illness and Friendship, by Rachel Lundy, copyright 2015.
–in addition, by Beverly
if you want to know how you can pray for me, aside from the above-mentioned verses, my prayer is the same as Paul, writing to the Philippian believers from prison–
Philippians 2:14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
Plea for Grace 