How to Help a Loved One Battling Cancer
If you or a loved one have recently been diagnosed with cancer, or are currently battling against it, you’re familiar with the diverse range of emotions and feelings that come along with it. Fear, worry, exhaustion one day––hope, resilience, and strength the next. Only to bounce between the two in what seems like an unending cycle.
Whether you’ve been battling cancer for some time or are just trying to figure out next steps in the early stages, it can feel like you’re in limbo, unsure what’s going to happen next.
This is your opportunity to bring all of the fear, worry, and uncertainty to God––to press into His loving presence as He moves in ways both seen and unseen. And few ways allow us to experience this better than through prayer.
Why Does God Allow Suffering?
But sometimes it can be hard to enter into prayer in times like this. Why would God allow this to happen, you wonder. As a result, anytime you try to come to Him in prayer, you find yourself angry, hurt, or fearful to open up to Him. However, we must align our perspective of what suffering is (and what causes it) with reality.
God knows all that you’re feeling and still meets you with a gracious heart and the open arms of a loving Father. As we embrace Him, we need to be reminded that God does not cause suffering. He only brings about good (James 1:17).
Yet, we still have to address the proverbial elephant in the room: why does God allow suffering to happen? Suffering is a result of a broken creation. When God created the Garden of Eden in Genesis 1 and 2, everything was good. God brought chaos and put it into order. An acknowledgement of what happens when creation submits to its Creator. When sin entered into the world, the chaos that enveloped the earth in Genesis 1 was given opportunities to break loose. The result? Pain and suffering.
God allows suffering for a time, so that through the redemption of all things, He might be glorified (1 Corinthians 4:17, Genesis 50:20).
What Is the Most Powerful Prayer Against Cancer
Prayer is a powerful tool we hold––a chance to share our hearts with the God of the universe and listen for His voice in response. Yet even the disciples, who walked with the incarnate Messiah, asked Jesus how to pray, understanding the importance of praying in a way that most honored God and aligned their hearts with His.
What we learn is that prayer should be both structured (considering the mindset with which God wants us to pray) as well as organic (considering the heart of having an open and truthful conversation with God).
The most powerful prayer is not one that is a repetition of lofty or eloquent words. The most powerful prayer, as revealed to us in the book of James, is the one lifted up by a righteous man or woman. It is here that we must remember that our righteousness comes from God alone, through the act of justification.
So the most effective prayer against cancer is the one that is rooted in trusting God, focuses on His goodness and faithfulness, and believes that He will work all things together for good (Romans 8:28). Lay your worries at His feet, receive His grace and mercy, and turn your eyes toward heaven––for the Healer is listening and ready to move.
Related Resource: 5 Prayers When Facing Cancer
