A Healer's Prayer

The Quiet Voice Within

As practitioners of healing, we spend much of our lives listening to others. We listen to symptoms, stories, frustrations, fears, and hopes. Day after day, we are entrusted with the privilege of caring for those who seek relief and restoration.

Yet, in the midst of caring for others, there is one voice that often becomes drowned out: the quiet voice within.

That voice reminds us of a profound truth. Healing is not ours to command. There are things we know, and there are far more things we do not know. Beyond our knowledge, beyond our skills, and beyond our understanding lies a mystery greater than ourselves. As much as we strive to help, true healing ultimately rests in God's hands.

Today, I would like to share a prayer that inspired me more than twenty years ago. Its words have remained in my heart ever since, guiding me through moments of uncertainty and reminding me to trust in God's presence and intervention when my own understanding falls short.

May this prayer speak to you as deeply as it has spoken to me.

God be in my head and in my understanding.

God be in my eyes and in my looking.

God be in my mouth and in my speaking.

God be in my tongue and in my tasting.

God be in my lips and in my greeting.

God be in my nose and in my smelling/inhaling.

God be in my ears and in my hearing.

God be in my neck and in my humbling.

God be in my shoulders and in my bearing.

God be in my back and in my standing.

God be in my arms and in my reaching/receiving.

God be in my hands and in my working.

God be in my legs and in my walking.

God be in my feet and in my grounding.

God be in my knees and in my relating.

God be in my gut and in my feeling.

God be in my bowels and in my forgiving.

God be in my loins and in my swiving.

God be in my lungs and in my breathing.

God be in my heart and in my loving.

God be in my skin and in my touching.

God be in my flesh and in my paining/pining.

God be in my blood and in my living.

God be in my bones and in my dying.

God be at my end and at my reviving

This prayer is by Reverend Jim Cotter. Printed in his book Prayer at Night, Cairns Publications, Sheffield, England, 1988