Prayer - Heal Me!

Since I got back from my vacation, I have felt so great.  I have continued to use energy management to keep from getting too fatigued, made sure I got enough sleep, exercised, kept my diet fairly good (although I have treated myself some).  I haven’t even had much to blog about!  I was wondering if I had been healed.   This weekend however was more difficult.  I have had more pain and that has reminded me that fibromyalgia is still with me.  I saw my Dr. on Friday and now I am filled with questions about how to treat my symptoms.  I don’t want to just manage my symptoms, I desperately want to be healed.  I know that my body can’t heal unless my symptoms are managed though.  It feels like there is a mountain in front of me.  Praise God that mountains can be moved!

In a previous post I wrote about how I began my journey to healing.  First Steps to Healing!  Since then God has lead me to do things to get my body healthy, inside and out, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  Diet is a big one, and I’ve been focusing on that a lot lately.  Also the study of His Word, where answers are found, and where we get to know who God is.  It is how our minds become like His.  I know that there are more areas of my life that He wants me to work on, so my prayer today is for him to continue to light my path.  To lead me towards what is good for me, what will help heal me.  I know that He could take this all away instantly, but He has a reason why my healing is a journey instead.

Lord please take this fibromyalgia away.  Heal me completely.  Your word says that a prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well.  (James 5:15)  I have faith that you can heal anything.  I have faith that you are who you say you are.  I have faith that your word is truth.  I have faith that you do what you say you will do.  If there is anything in me that is keeping me from being healed, please continue to reveal it to me.  Show me my sins, show me my failures, show me my shortfalls.  Heal my body, my mind and my heart.  Bring me closer to you.  Teach me how you want me to live.  Light my path and make it clear to me what you would have me do. 

I pray for all those who suffer with chronic illness.  I pray that they find comfort in the Lord, that they find guidance in His Word, and that they find healing in Christ. 

Move the mountain Lord!  Or lead us over it!

Priorities - Where Does Fibromyalgia Fit?

It sure takes a lot of time and effort to revamp your life.  Lots of reading, studying, testing and practicing.  I feel sometimes like this is a new job.  I guess it is.  I have spent hours and hours reading, and talking with others who are living with fibromyalgia, trying to find what God leads me to put into practice in my own life as steps towards healing.  This can quickly take over your whole life,  putting God and family responsibilities on the back-burner!  I KNOW that is not what God wants for me, so where does getting healthy fit into my priorities?

Here is an illustration that shows the Circles of Priority for a Christian Adult according to
Bearing Fruit in God's Family by NavPress:

After talking about this with my husband we came up with the idea that for me, fibro should fall between “Work” (I should point out that "Work" does not necessarily mean a paying job) and “Other."  We’ll call it “Self/Health,” not “selfishness,”  but “Self/Health.”  This is the place to work on getting healthy.  My list for “Self/Health” would include; 

-reading/research on my illness

-healthy eating

-supplements

-exercise (which for me includes lots of prayer time & scripture meditation)

-Dr. appointments

-resting (which could lead back to God)

-blogging (which could also be helping others)

Maybe you would add massage, chiropractor or acupuncture.  Whatever you do that surrounds your illness and healing.  All of these are important and have a place on our priority list.   Here is my new visual which you can grab, print & customize with your own priorities:

 

Certainly there are times in people’s lives where health needs to be moved up on the list.  If you are hospitalized, or going through something like Cancer, your priorities may look different for a season.  When your illness has you so down (physically or emotionally) that you can no longer do the things on your priority list, that is a problem that needs to be addressed.  You should seek help to get things under control.

As I spoke about in a previous post, Job - Help for the Hurting, God allows things to happen in our lives for the purpose of bringing us closer to Him.  Don’t let anything get in the way of that relationship!

My point is this.  Let’s not let fibromyalgia (or whatever illness you have) take over our lives to the point where we are ineffective Christians.

Let’s put it in its place.

Job - Help for the Hurting

“so I have been allotted months of futility,

    and nights of misery have been assigned to me.

When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’

    The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.”  Job 7:3-4

“And now my life ebbs away;

    days of suffering grip me.

Night pierces my bones;

    my gnawing pains never rest.”  Job 30:16-17

Sound familiar?  Researching the history of fibromyalgia you will often find references to Job possibly being the first recorded sufferer.  I hadn’t heard anything about this before I began investigating this syndrome, and I have studied the book of Job a few times.

Most commentators agree that Job is the oldest book in the Bible, possibly written soon after the flood of Noah, many years before Moses penned the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible).  Job was a righteous and wealthy man.  Satan approached God with a challenge, that when all good things were taken away from him, Job would blame God and turn from Him.  Satan is given approval to prove his theory and all of Job’s wealth is taken away, his ten adult children are killed and he is afflicted with illness.  Why does God allow us to suffer?  Three of Job’s friends show up to try and make sense of what was happening to this Godly man.  Job never wavers in his faith and worship of God.  Then, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe speaks to Job about who He is.  A Living, Loving, Personal God, active in all facets of His creation.  Job is found to have passed this test and God blesses him, giving him twice as much as he had before.  More wealth, more children, and although the text doesn’t mention his health, the fact that people once again were not afraid to be around him, and the fact that he lived happily for 140 years after these events, leads me to believe he was healed.

As I read more of Job’s own description of his afflictions and looked back to the beginning of the story,   “So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.”  Job 2:7, I can’t help but doubt that fibromyalgia is what was ailing him.  In my opinion whatever it was, was horrible and included open sores (boils) that would explain his physical torture.  However, even if Job didn’t suffer from fibromyalgia, those of us that live with pain can turn to this book for comfort, answers and hope.

“There is great news to those who have lost possessions, for those who have lost position and for those who have lost health.  God is near, God is in Love with you and God is in control.  It is a huge challenge, but the truth is that the God who directs each and every lightning bolt is in control of the situation.  Nothing that has happened in a life, as tragic as it is, is a surprise to God, nor was it beyond His capability to stop it.  The good news is that God is so capable that He can not only manage, but also direct the life of each individual in such a way that measured in the eternal scheme of things, a perfect plan unfolds that is best for the person and brings glory to God.  The life of the hurting is in the powerful and loving hand of the Creator and has His laser focus and undivided attention.” (193-194) God’s Science Quiz, Dr. Gary Sutliff.

I invite you to study The Book of Job for yourself and pray that you find comfort in it as I have.

For further study into the science in Job, you can pick up my Dad’s book on the subject!

God's Science Quiz.  

And watch this video by Chuck Missler - 
God's Science Quiz to Job.

First Steps to Healing!

I am a follower of Christ.  I believe the Bible is the Word of God and I try to live my life to reflect that.  So when faced with having fibromyalgia I naturally turned to prayer for help.  I would pray (and still do) for healing and guidance on how to handle living with this syndrome.  I wrestled with what I was being told by Dr.’s to be selfish and the negativity I was seeing in other people around the world living with fibro.  I wrestled for months, “HOW do I handle this God?”  All kinds of people of course were there to offer suggestions.  Most wanting to be helpful.  Try this diet, take this pill, read this book.  For me though, I need to hear it from God.  The answers need to come from His Word.  The first place I was led to was the book of James.  I was doing a Bible study with the women’s ministry at my church.  I loved it, even though I was late most meetings.  (It was held in the mornings & I am just NOT a morning person.)  James is a short book, 5 chapters.  Guidance came for me in Chapter 5.  Yup, He made me wait a little bit.

 

Well.  That’s pretty clear.  I was sick.  I needed to call up the elders of my church and have them pray over me.  So I did.  Next week in church I wrote my request on a little card & turned it in.  Was contacted & set up a time for me to come to a board meeting.  (I would also like to mention that I shared this in my Bible study group and those wonderful ladies gathered around me right then to pray.  We all can and should pray for one another with the authority of Christ.  “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” James 5:16)


My husband came with me that evening, and the board members gathered around me, laid hands on me and took turns praying for healing.  I cried the whole time.  I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to receive complete healing right then.  I do believe that that is possible!  But I believe God has me on a PATH to healing and this was my first step of faith & obedience.  I left feeling very blessed to be surrounded by people who care, and earnestly prayed for me to heal.  Thank you Mission Community Church! I also left that evening knowing that healing is coming.