Newton Stewart, Wigtown and Whithorn RC Churches

Catholic Churches in the Machars of Galloway

Praying for Healing

Last month I began offering you a series of simple methods for your own personal prayer life. The first one I outlined was called “centering” prayer. Centering prayer is about “quieting down” our hearts and thoughts and stirring within us the deepest possible desire to rest in God.

Having said that, and tried it, it can happen that we become aware, almost without trying, of the gap or the gulf that exists between us and God. He can seem so far away. We know He is everywhere. We know He is present to us. But still, He seems distant. There are many explanations for this. One of them, and probably the most immediate one, is that we sense our own brokenness. We can call it darkness, or sin, or woundedness. Whatever we call it, it is painful. We hurt. And when we hurt, we need healing and soothing. We need light or mercy or wholeness.

So, this month, I want to offer you a way of praying for healing. We are talking about an inner, spiritual healing, but this can often have positive effects even on our physical condition. The human being is a unity of body and spirit, a unity which is very deep and pervasive. It is this whole self which we bring to God so that he can heal us and “revive our very bones.” In many ways, this kind of prayer is a simple anticipation of the resurrection – when God will heal us definitively in the beautiful unity of body and soul.

We carry with us the baggage of life, much of it still “bleeding” with hurt. To healing prayer we can bring emotional problems, depression, addiction, memories which scar us, old resentments, attitudes and habits which plague us, etc.. Our prayer of healing, as indeed any prayer of petition, is never one of “demanding”, but one of desiring. We put ourselves before God, desiring but waiting. We wait because the healing is a gift of God. We wait because God sees the bigger picture of our life and may need us to suffer for a time longer than we would want. He sees, too, how our suffering may benefit others, something we cannot possibly understand. But the main thing is that we desire and that we wait with sincere trust in His loving care for us. To expect some immediate response would be to fail in trust.

A final word before offering the method. God’s grace is not magic. He expects us to work with Him in the healing process. You can’t pray for healing from addiction while the cupboard is full of whisky. You need to take decisions which will correspond to God’s gift.

1. Imagine you are one of the sick in the Gospel who seeks out the presence of Jesus. Seek Him out now. Use a picture of Him to help you. Maybe have Him sit in the chair in front of you. Or come before His real presence in the Eucharist. Don’t say anything. Just be there before Him. Try to become more and more conscious that He is actually there with you. Let Him gaze upon you as if no-one else existed, His whole attention on you. Adopt whatever posture you feel best expresses what you feel (sit, kneel, prostrate, etc.).

2. Now let surface in your mind and heart that one wound, that one sin or darkness which hurts you most. Allow yourself to feel its pain and all the damage it has done to you. If you need to, let your tears come. Remember that His loving and compassionate gaze is upon you.

3. Turn to Him and speak, aloud or within, whatever words come to you, e.g. “Help me, Lord!” or “Here is my pain, I give it to you” or “Lay your hand upon my aching heart” etc.. What you are doing here is being vulnerable and open to Him. Ask Him to tell you what He has to say about your wound. Listen with your deepest heart. Wait patiently before Him. Trust that He will do what He needs to do for you. Make your own His will for you. Imagine you are behind His eyes looking at you. See what he sees. Love what he loves.

4. Allow yourself a few minutes to emerge from this deep encounter with Jesus. Thank Him as the intensity of the encounter fades and you return to your “normal” condition. Maybe conclude with an Our Father.

The above exercise may take a little more time than centering. Perhaps as much as 20-30 minutes, though not necessarily. Perhaps later in the day or the next morning you might write down what you experienced in the prayer. Immediate changes may not have taken place, but gradually, if you repeat this prayer, your attitude to your wound may change. You might see it in a new light. Perhaps that is the healing….