For seven years I have mourned the loss of my son Alan to suicide at age 18. One day my friend Susan asked if she could pray with me. As we began, Susan asked me to recall a place where I loved to be with my son. Envisioning the bittersweet memory of a time when Alan and I were running on a particular mountain trail, I felt how much I missed my son.
During my recollection, Susan asked me where God was in my vision. I saw the Lord following Alan and me on the trail. It seemed that the Lord took great delight in being with me on the trail the same way as I did being with my child. In need of rest, Susan and I ended our prayer time.
As I began to reflect on our prayer time, it occurred to me that the Lord wanted me to love being with Him the way that I loved being with Alan. The Lord then said to me, “I love you with a love that cannot be measured, and I deeply desire to spend time with you.” As I thought about this I was deeply encouraged and renewed.
Recalling my vision, I did not feel the heartache of missing Alan anymore. Somehow the Lord made it possible for me to remember my son without the pain. This was truly a miracle of emotional healing.
This type of prayer is based on who God is. He is Emmanuel, God with us. He is Jehovah rapha, the Lord our healer. He is the Great I Am. As God’s truth prevails, we can be set free from the pain of our past and move forward with total healing.
The Word says: “But now, this is what the Lord says—He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze'” (Is. 43:1-2, NIV).
