Friday, November 13, 2009

Psalm for Sickness


I'm continually praying for many Christian friends who are very sick. As many of you know, I use the psalms to pray for people. Nothing is more powerful in prayer than God's own Word. Psalm 31 is a particularly good one to use to pray against illness.

Here's the BPV (Brandilyn's Prayer Version) for Psalm 31 (based on the New American Standard Version.) Just fill in the name(s) of your own friends and family members--or maybe pray it for yourself.


In You, O Lord, ____ has taken refuge;
May she (or he) not be ashamed.
In Your righteousness deliver her.
Incline your ear to me--rescue her quickly.
Be to her a rock of strength, a stronghold to save,
For You are her rock and her fortress.
For Your name's sake, lead and guide her.
Pull her out of the net this illness has laid for her,
For You are her strength
Into Your hand I commit her, Lord.
Ransom her, O God of truth.

I hate the regarding of vain idols,
But I trust in You, Lord.
I will rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness,
Because You have see ____'s affliction.
You know the troubles of her soul.
Don't give her over to the hand of this enemy.
Set her feet in a large place.

Be gracious to ____, Lord, for she is in distress.
Her eye is wasted away from grief, her soul and body also.
Her life is now spent with sorrow and sighing.
Strength fails her, and her body is wasting away.
Because of her illness she may feel like she's a reproach to her neighbors,
An object of dread to her acquaintances.
Some may not want to see her.
She may feel forgotten, our of mind, like a broken vessel.
She may have heard the words of many that terror is on every side.
Illness takes counsel against her, scheming for her life.

But she trusts in you, Lord, and I trust in You.
For You are our God.
Her times are in Your hand.
Deliver her from the hand of this illness and from its persecution.
Make Your face shine upon her.
Save her in Your lovingkindness.
Let her not be put to shame, O Lord,
For she calls upon You.
Let this illness be put to shame, let it be silent.
Let lying lips be dumb that speak arrogantly against ___
With pride and contempt.

How great is Your goodness,
Which You have stored up for ____.
Which You have wrought for ____,
Because she takes refuge in You before the sons of men.
Hide ___ in the secret place of Your presence from this illness.
Keep her secretly in Your shelter from the strife of this disease.
Blessed be Your name, Lord,
For You have made marvelous Your lovingkindness to ____
During this besieged time.
If she says in alarm, "I am cut off from God's eyes!"--
Even then You hear her prayers and supplications when she cries to You.

I love You, Lord, I and all Your godly ones.
I know You preserve the faithful and fully recompense the proud doer.
Help ____ be strong. Help her heart take courage
For she hopes in You, Lord.

-- Amen.

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Who can you pray this psalm for today?

11 comments:

Donna M. Kohlstrom said...

Thank you for this powerful, beautiful Psalm. I need it today for myself and so many others.

Jessie at Blog Schmog said...

Thank you Brandilyn. This is a post to print and keep in my Bible. I know it is in the Psalms but your "fill in the blanks" help me see how to apply it.

Judy Gann said...

Brandilyn, thanks so much for sharing this powerful Psalm. Definitely a keeper.

Unknown said...

Very powerful. My daughter and I are both fighting Lyme and it can be so discouraging. This is a Psalm we'll be returning to over and over.

Anonymous said...

Hi Brandilyn, I'm only new to your blog and website, and first of all, what a find! Thank you for opening up your life and sharing it with us. It's very encouraging.

On that note, I wanted to share something from my life. A few years ago I was doubting God's love for me, and He lead me to these verses. He also encouraged me to exchange my name for 'Israel' and to view it with the knowlege of Jesus sacrifice for me:

Isaiah 43:1-7 & 10-13. NLT

'But now, ________, the LORD who created you says: "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. I gave {my son} as a ransom for your freedom. {He} died that you might live. I traded {his} life for yours because you are precious to me. You are honoured and I love you.

"Do not be afraid for I am with you. I will gather you and your children from east and west and from north and south. I will bring my sons and daughters back to {me} from the distant corners of the earth. All who claim me as their God will come, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them."

"But you are my witness, _______," says the LORD. "And you are my servant. You have been chosen to know me, believe in me and understand that I alone am God. There is no other God; there never has been and never will be. I am the LORD, and there is no other saviour. First I predicted your deliverance; I declared what I would do, and then I did it - I saved you. No foreign god has ever done this before. You are witness that I am the only God," says the LORD. "From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can oppose what I do. No one can reverse my actions."


It still has the power to touch my spirit. But that's God's Word for you! You may have noticed some spelling differences - I'm Australian, we use English spelling.

I'm looking forward to joining your blog community!

Christina Summers

~ Brandilyn Collins said...

Christina, very nice to have you here. I'm glad you've joined us.

I was nodding my head as I read your passage from Isaiah. This is the same kind of praying I do every day, using God's word. Very powerful way to pray.

Thanks much for sharing this passage with us.

Dineen A. Miller said...

Thank you so much for this, Brandilyn! I just sat and prayed it for my older daughter Rachel who's experiencing some female issues. This Psalm spoke so clearly of her "wasting" condition, and she's despairing that God's not hearing her. I prayed Psalm 91 over her last night. I will share this with her to pray over herself. And of course, I will pray it over my Leslie. And I'm thinking it would work for my hubby, who's still "spiritually ill."

Thank you so much! Hugs!

Pencildancers said...

Thank you Brandilyn for showing me how to use this Psalm in a personal way. I have two friends that are now being prayed for using this Psalm tonight.

Unknown said...

This is awesome Brandilyn, Thanks Dineen for pointing me over here. I am printing this out and it will be prayed over for many. Thank you. Hugs.

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Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for this prayer. I will continue to say this prayer for my daughter while she is in the hospital. May God Bless you!