A Prayer for a Sick Child

Father, my child is burning with fever, too weak to even cry properly, and I have been pacing this hallway counting the hours until morning. Their flushed little face is all I can see when I close my eyes.

I confess the helplessness clawing at me. I would take this from them in a heartbeat if I could, would carry the sickness in my own body to spare theirs. But I cannot, and that powerlessness is its own kind of pain.

So I bring my sick child to You, the Healer who touched the feverish and made them whole. Nothing in their small body is hidden from You, no cell, no breath, no whispered hurt.

Bring down the fever. Strengthen what is weak. Give the doctors clear eyes and steady hands. Let healing rise up in my child like dawn after a very long night.

Your word tells of how You took up our infirmities and carried our diseases. Carry this one now. Lay Your healing hand where my anxious hands cannot reach.

I keep my watch, but I am not the only one watching. I place my child in arms far stronger and gentler than mine. Heal them, Lord, and let me hear them laugh again soon. Amen.