Tuesday - Go in peace and be freed of your suffering

Prayer:   Holy God,  You heal all our infirmaties and our afflictions.   May we lift up to You today those things that are holding us back from Your peace…….  Lord hear our prayer.   May we lift up to You today those things that are holding us back from sharing Your Word……   Lord hear our prayer.      Lord,  we know that You hear our prayer and grant us Your love in believing.  Amen.

Read  St Mark 5: 25 - 34

This is the story of the healing of the sick woman.  She had been bleeding for twelve years  and had gone to every doctor she could find to bring about healing.  But nothing helped.   Because she was bleeding for so many years,  she probably would have been set apart from the community and labelled unclean.     Yet she risks getting yelled at by the people in the community to ask Jesus to heal her.   She comes up behind Jesus,  and not wanting to draw attention to herself instead of asking Jesus to heal her,  she touches his cloak.  Instantly she is healed.   Once Jesus figures out who touched him,  he says to the woman, “Daughter,  your faith has healed you.  Go in peace and be freed from your suffering”  (St Mark 5: 34  NIV  Zondervan, 1983).

Go in peace and be freed of your suffering.  Jesus has given this woman a new beginning in her life.  What a glorious time of rejoicing!    She must have been dancing in the streets with joy!

So too does Jesus say to us, “Go in peace and be freed of your suffering”.       Listen to the news today and keep in prayer those events where people are suffering.    Uplift these situations in Your prayers today.   Listen to Your friends and family and keep them in your prayers today so that they may find the peace of God.   Listen to what is happening in your Church this month and lift up in prayer all  worship,  studies,  ministries,  and community events.   Remember that our life in Christ is a glorious time of rejoicing!

 

Prayer:   Great God,  use us today to bring Your peace into this world.  Use us this day to help those who need to be freed of their sufferings to be free and find Your peace.  We know that You support and strengthen us for Your work that needs to be completed in this world and that we do not do this work alone.   We ask this in Jesus’ name.  Amen.