Physician, Heal Thyself

“Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.” (Jer 17:14 AV)

This is the prayer of the prophet for himself.  Jeremiah is asked to serve in a very difficult situation.  This situation is unique to a few prophets. He is asked to share the message of imminent judgment with the understanding no one will listen.  He knows his words are only meant to make the hearers accountable.  He will see no change.  This is unique to end-of-dispensation prophets.  Like Noah who is preaching repentance as he is building the ark, these men know their words will affect little to no change in the condition of their hearers.  Knowing there will be no change is only half the challenge.  Looking into the faces of those who whom you are preaching and knowing the outcome which cannot be altered, stretches one’s compassion.  Jeremiah, like Noah and John the Apostle saw the end.  They knew the events that would unfold on those who are both friend or foe.  They knew when they encouraged their audience to repent, there was little to no chance of it.  So, it is of the utmost importance for the prophet to pray earnestly for himself.  This is not a selfish act.  This is the responsibility of the prophet to care for his own spiritual needs so he can do what the LORD has called him to do.  This is Jeremiah’s prayer above.

There are so many examples from which to draw, I fear I might be a bit redundant.  I have had several pastors over the years and somewhere good role models while others not so much.  At least where it came to taking care of oneself.  One particular pastor made the habit of going on frequent two or three-day trips with his wife.  They would go off to a hotel somewhere for a night or two.  Rarely did he take an extended vacation.  Several pastor friends of mine were hunters.  Unless there was a death, serious illness, or suicide threat, they pretty much stuck with their pursuits.  One time, I remember hosting one of my pastors about an hour and a half away from his church.  He got a call regarding a serious church matter.  We finished our hunt and loaded into the car.  We were heading down the road when he called into the office.  He heard the nature of the emergency and I witnessed something that has stuck with me all these years.  In my estimation, the nature of the situation would have called for an immediate halt to our expedition and a rapid retreat to his church.  However, he handled what he could over the phone and would finish when he got there.  I forgot his exact words, but in a nutshell, he said the nature of the situation was serious, but his immediate presence would not have made a difference.

One of the most significant areas in which the servant of God fails himself is in prayer.  We pray for everyone else and their needs.  But we feel selfish in asking the LORD to do anything for us.  We feel the pain of others and elevate their needs to the highest of priorities, but we feel foolish thinking anything we would require is rather insignificant compared to the sheep.  We spend a few minutes pouring out our own feelings, but then remember sister so-and-so who has cancer.  Or, we remember brother so-and-so who lost his wife and is in deep despair.  We remember Bro so-and-so and his dear wife serving as a missionary who are struggling on the field.  These are noble and necessary requests.  They must be included.  We remember our elected officials and pray for them as the scriptures command.  But what we fail to do is spend significant time praying for our own needs.  We may ask the LORD to assist in ministry.  We may ask for the strength to do that which He has called us to do.  We may even mention the physical need we have.  What we do not do as faithfully as we should is to wrestle with an Angle over the issues of our minds and hearts that go untouched by the Spirit’s ministry.  Jeremiah had no problem with praying for himself.  He couldn’t.  If he didn’t pray for himself, as disobedient as the people were, no one else was going to.  He needed to in order to survive.