Day 11: He Heals the Broken-Hearted
Bible passage: Psalm 147:1–6; Psalm 107:17–22; Malachi 4:5–6
When Life Is Knocked Sideways
Today is Saturday 11th of January 2020. Welcome to Day 11 of our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. We have passed the halfway mark. Today we bring God the places where we are hurting.
It does not take much to knock life sideways. A phone rings. A letter arrives. There is a knock at the door. A doctor uses a word we were dreading, or a job goes, or somebody we love says they are leaving. Fear rushes in, and with it the feeling that God is a long way off.
Where do we turn at such a time?
The God Who Heals
He Heals the Heart
“He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.” Psalm 147:3 (NLT)
The next verse says that this same God counts the stars and calls them all by name (Psalm 147:4). The One who runs the universe bends down to bandage a wound. His power is absolute, and His understanding is beyond our measuring (Psalm 147:5). Nothing that has happened to you is too large for Him or too small.
He Sends His Word
Psalm 107 tells of people who were brought very low and came close to death. In their trouble they cried out to the Lord, and He saved them. He sent out His word and healed them, and snatched them from the door of death (Psalm 107:19–20).
Healing is part of what Jesus won for us at the cross. Isaiah says that He was whipped so we could be healed (Isaiah 53:5), and Matthew sees that promise fulfilled as Jesus healed all who were ill (Matthew 8:16–17). So James tells anyone who is sick to call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord (James 5:14–15).
God’s first way of healing is to speak. That is why in the hard times we must keep our Bibles open. We pray to the One who has control over everything, we ask Him to do what only He can do, and we go to His Word for guidance and hope.
He Turns Hearts
The Old Testament ends with a promise about relationships. God will send the prophet Elijah, and his preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers (Malachi 4:5–6).
God cares about broken bodies and broken hearts, and He also cares about broken families. Reconciliation is close to His heart, because He has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and has given us the task of reconciling others (2 Corinthians 5:18).
Never Abandoned
He has promised never to fail us and never to abandon us (Hebrews 13:5). So even in the place we would never have chosen, we are not alone. God is able to meet us there, and often it is where we come to know Him best.
Bringing It to Him
Three Steps for Today
Name the wound. Tell God plainly where you are hurting in body, mind or heart. Ask Him to heal you.
Take one step towards peace. Is there a relationship that needs mending? Pray for that person, and ask God to show you the first move.
Pray for someone else. Who do you know who has had bad news? Pray for them, and let them know that you have.
If you need prayer for healing, please ask. We would count it a privilege to pray with you.
Prayer for Today:
Father God, You know everything about me. You know the wounds I carry and the relationships that have broken. Send Your word and heal me. Bandage what is hurting. Turn hearts in my family towards each other, and begin with mine. Thank You that You will never abandon me. Help me to trust You here. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Keep going
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