Prayer of healing through the cross
By Rachel Ujo
Bible Reading:
“But he has been drilled for our sins; he has been crushed for our iniquity; he has had the punishment that brought us peace, and with his wounds we have been healed.” – Isaiah 53:5
Read or listen to the following:
One spring day, I was standing by the window in my daughter Taylor’s bedroom, after she had experienced a massive seizure. After seeing her whole body sway out of control, her eyes rolled and I prayed desperately for God’s peace. She was exhausted in her bed when the seizure finally stopped. When Taylor fell asleep, his anger saturated my presence. “God, you don’t know!” I cried. “I don’t know what it’s like to see your child suffering!”
Then I heard him speak to my mind:
“Oh, yes. I sent my son to suffer for you and to die.”
The words captured my breath. Everything about Jesus’ suffering was planned since the costly choice of man in the garden of Eden. Rejoiced, the father knew what was coming, what it was like, what it would cost. And he did it for you and me, for all humanity.
Maybe you were in a place where heartache carved the hollow space in your soul, or in a place where understanding God’s sacrifice suddenly became painful and painful. At Matthew 27:54, after Jesus took his final breath, we read: Something has changed beyond their understanding.
The cross represents the ultimate intersection of pain and healing. Isaiah prophesied it perfectly: “But he was drilled for our sins; he was crushed for our iniquity; the very tool of torture became the source of our wholeness.
When Paul wrote to the Colossians he explained it this way: “And you, who was dead in your trespass and in your acyclical circle of flesh, have come to life with him, and have allowed us all our trespasses. If we pray: Lord, help us see my healing in the shadow of your cross.
Pain can create a wall in our hearts. Belia made bricks out of bricks in disappointment, trauma and sadness. We may hesitate to believe that complete healing is available here and now. But Easter reminds us that Jesus just didn’t die. He rose again! The power of his resurrection is not just a promise for the future, but a reality of the present. At 1 Peter 2:24, we read: Beware of tension: “You have been healed.” Not “You will be healed” or “You may be healed,” but “You have been healed.” In God’s economy, your healing has secured the first Easter morning.
When the cross is at the heart of our lives, healing flows in all directions. I have not suggested that all physical illnesses will magically disappear (but God certainly can and sometimes performs such miracles). Rather, it points to the inner healing that our minds, emotions, relationships, and sometimes our bodies can use. The last words of Jesus on the cross were “It’s over.” The red, reconciliation and healing work is complete. For his victory over his death, we can experience the victory of today – including healing.
Sometimes we carry pain like familiar peers. Healing can be frightening because it means change and stepping into a new identity. How does it look like to let the Resurrected Christ touch the wounded place of your soul? What happens when he walks through the freedom he purchased with his blood? Romans 8:11 reminds us. The same forces that rolled the stones are at work in us!
When Centurion witnessed the death of Jesus and the supernatural events surrounding it, he recognized divinity. Similarly, when the world witnesses authentic healing in our lives, its transformation, not the lack of pain, gives us a glimpse into the sacred work of the cross. Would you like to join me in praying for healing through this Easter season cross?
Let’s pray:
Lord Jesus, thank you for taking my pain on the cross. You feel my sadness and know my deepest pain. Today I assert your promise – your wounds will heal me. Touch the broken place in my heart. Change my bitterness, trauma and sadness with your healing powers. I will accept this healing not as a distant hope, but as my present reality through your sacrifice. For Calvary, remind me that you have the last words in my life and that those words are soothed. Amen.
Photo Credit: ©GetTyimages/Mbolina
Rachel Wojo is an author, public speaker and podcaster who hosts Bible reading assignments on the popular blog rachelwojo.com. Her biblical approach and living environment influence women find strength and hope in everyday situations. Rachel’s journey is an ideal, hopeless prayer that sheds light on asking God’s questions. Rachel’s journey includes losing her mother to leukemia, a daughter of her adult special needs, a rare neurologically degenerative disease, and her father suffers from illness. She is the author of hopeless prayer. It is to embrace the power of prayer in the darkest moments of life. Mostly, Rachel is in love with six on Earth and two in heaven for Matt.
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