I’ve been doing it for decades. It all started at Little Flower Catholic Elementary School in Toledo, Ohio. On November 25, 1974, Sister Shannon Schrein, a second-grade teacher, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. On October 19, 1975, I was the eighth-grade teacher and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. A short time later, Sister Mary Domitilla, a sister who taught fifth grade, was hospitalized with gastrointestinal problems.
Shannon and I jokingly reflected that no one should teach at the school, or they would get a chronic disease! From that coincidental health story, a prayerful one developed.
Now, over three decades later, Shannon and I talk about the challenges of living each day with a chronic disease. A big part of our coping is through prayer.
Eternal Timeline
Since the diagnosis, both Shannon and I have prayed for healing. I did not tell many people at first that I prayed each day to be healed of the devastating effects of multiple sclerosis. I had a feeling that it was not good theology—or faith—to pray for healing so relentlessly. I wondered if one should pray for healing like this. Was I being realistic? I asked Shannon, who has a doctorate in systematic theology, if this prayer of petition was theologically sound. She comforted me with her thoughts: “God heals in so many ways beyond our imagining. Healing happens in all kinds of ways, not just in the miraculous, instantaneous cure of a serious illness.” Shannon reminded me that God’s timeline and our timeline are not the same. Having a disease for 30 years is a drop in the bucket in the overall scheme of eternity.
I have prayed for decades for a cure. About 18 years ago, the first disease-modifying injections for multiple sclerosis came out, which slow its progression. To me, this was an answer to my prayers for healing.
I pray daily that I might walk better, as my legs have weakened over the years. I bumped into a physical-therapist friend—whom I had lost track of—and we met for lunch. She encouraged me to restart my physical-therapy program. To me, this is another answer to prayer.
It Works
I pray each day for healing, using my favorite Scripture passage, John 14:13-14: “And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.” I think I wear that verse out.
My friend was having colon surgery, and I placed her name on our sisters’ email hotline. She called me when she was released from the hospital.
“I felt a sense of peace and energy surround me,” my friend said. She knows she will be able to face whatever comes in her health story.
Handy Tips
- Bring to God your requests for healing.
- Notice the healings that take place in your life.
- Expect surprising gifts from your God!
