# Prayer after surgery
*2008-10-09*

> Bill Young shares a personal reflection on his aunt's legacy and offers a prayer of healing and gratitude for those recovering from surgery.

## A prayer for recovery

Good afternoon. This is Bill Young. Today, we are going to be praying the prayer after surgery. I would like to dedicate this prayer to my friend Roseanne, the wife of John, who just had open heart surgery twice. It seems to have been successful and is working well; hopefully, she will be coming home today.

## A legacy of faith

Before the prayer, I want to do something special. I am adding a reading from the Bible from John chapter 3, verses 14 through 21. These verses are important to me. My aunt, Sister Mary Teresa, had highlighted different verses in her Bible. A few years before Christmas, I found this old Bible that I hadn't seen in maybe 14 years. When I opened it, I found the verse where Mary said yes, and it happened that the very next day was the Gospel reading for that Sunday. I took it as a sign that my aunt was pushing me to read the Bible more, so I am going to incorporate some of the readings she highlighted that were important in her life.

## The Word of God

From John 3:14-21: 'And Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness; so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world may be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe in him already has been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been worked in God.'

## Prayer after surgery

Blessed Savior, I thank you that this operation is safely past, and now I rest in your abiding presence, relaxing every tension, releasing every care and anxiety, receiving more and more of your healing life into every part of my being. In a moment of pain, I turn to your strength. In times of loneliness, I feel your loving nearness. Grant that your life and love and joy may flow through me for the healing of others.

*Through the Word of God and prayer, we can find strength in pain and healing in the abiding presence of the Savior.*