Held by God in the Healing
A testimony of prayer, survival, and the quiet miracles God works in hospital rooms and human hearts.
Five Key Truths About Prayer and Healing
These five points come first because they frame the entire message that follows. True healing draws from both medical wisdom and the spiritual power of prayer. They anchor everything that follows and prepare the reader to receive the hope this article offers.
Prayer and medicine are not enemies. God often uses both.
Miracles still happen, and many are witnessed alongside medical care.
Prayer gives peace, courage, and strength when the body is weak.
Caregivers share in Christ’s ministry through compassion and presence.
God draws near to both the sick and the caregiver, working in every unseen place.
What Stirred My Heart to Write This
One year ago today, I lay on an operating table for my first open-heart surgery (50/50 chance of making it), a 10-hour battle that began at 7:00 a.m. and didn’t end until 5:15 p.m. My family, my church, and dear friends lifted me in prayer as surgeons worked to save my life. To my shock, I would face a second open-heart surgery on December 13, 2024, one that pushed me to the edge as I went into cardiac arrest. Yet in that moment of life hanging by a thread, God surrounded me with the love and prayers of people like my wife and family, Patrick Hazard, my PA, and my pastor Derek Duncan, who refused to let go. By God’s mercy and through the hands of skilled physicians, I survived. Today, as I reflect on the significance of prayer in medical recovery, I was profoundly moved by Dr. Marc Siegel’s new book, The Miracles Among Us, a collection of real-life healings that live at the intersection of science, faith, love, and human resilience. It felt as though his message was written for moments like mine. Dr. Siegel, a seasoned physician, boldly acknowledges something many people think but rarely articulate:
Medicine is powerful, but not all-powerful.
Prayer shapes the human experience in ways science can’t measure.
Miracles still occur, often right beside hospital beds.
Physicians and caregivers observe extraordinary moments that exceed the limits of medical explanation.
What struck me most was not just the stories themselves, but his conviction that physicians and caregivers should embrace, rather than ignore, the spiritual dimension of healing. God works through doctors. God works through prayer. God works through people loving each other well.
Reading his reflections stirred something deep within me, reminding me that sickness is never just physical, and healing is never just medical. It moved me to write this message of hope for anyone who is sick, suffering, or loving someone through illness.
The Healing God Who Works Through Prayer and People
The Bible’s teaching on prayer and healing aligns beautifully with what Dr. Siegel describes in The Miracles Among Us. God is not limited to one method of healing. He heals through miracles, yes, but also through medicine, caregivers, love, community, and prayer. God often weaves these threads together into a tapestry of healing. Dr. Siegel’s stories reflect this biblical truth. Healing is holistic and includes the body, mind, soul, and spirit. Below is the message that has been placed on my heart for those who are suffering and for those who care for them.
Prayer and Medicine Are Not Rivals. They Are Partners in God’s Plan
Scripture shows that God uses both supernatural power and practical means:
(Isaiah 38:21) God heals Hezekiah and instructs a medical treatment.
(Luke 10:34) The Good Samaritan uses oil, bandages, and transport, which is the ancient equivalent of emergency care.
Medicine is not a lack of faith. Seeking treatment is not unbelief. Doctors, nurses, and caregivers can be instruments of God’s compassion. Dr. Siegel points out that many physicians believe in God and miracles but don’t always bring those beliefs into practice. Yet healing often deepens when physical care and spiritual care work together.
Miracles Still Happen! More Often Than We Think.
Unexpected recoveries. Comas reversed. Sudden clarity. Spiritual promptings.
“Coincidences” that change outcomes. Dr. Siegel calls these “miracles among us,” and Scripture calls them signs of God’s nearness.
God heals in many ways: sometimes instantly, sometimes gradually through treatment, prayer, and community. God always heals when His people pray. Sometimes it’s the body, but more often it is the heart, the mind, the fear that held us, or the spirit that felt crushed. And yes, sometimes by giving eternal rest. Without fail, it is the soul that is pulled closer to Him.
Prayer Brings Peace When the Body Cannot Yet Be Healed.
(Philippians 4:6–7) “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Prayer guards the heart and mind with supernatural peace. Prayer is God’s gift to the sick; it becomes the calm in the storm, the hope in the unknown. It is also God’s gift to caregivers to provide the strength to continue when exhaustion and fear whisper lies.
Scripture has long taught that a peaceful mind and a hopeful spirit profoundly affect the body. Where prayer is, anxiety loosens. Where God is welcomed, fear retreats.
Caregivers Are Ministers of Christ’s Compassion
To the caregiver, your work is holy. You are the hands of the Good Samaritan, the presence of Christ where pain resides. You are a lifeline of love, comfort, and strength. Caregiving is one of the purest displays of the heart of God. It is a form of worship expressed through endurance, sacrifice, and tenderness. When you sit beside someone who is suffering, heaven sits beside you.
God Draws Near to Both the Sick and the Caregiver
(Psalm 34:18) tells us the Lord is near to the brokenhearted. This promise applies to the one lying in the hospital bed and the one holding their hand.
God is not distant from illness. He is not silent in suffering, and He is not indifferent to pain. He is working in ways seen and unseen, in our bodies, our minds, our emotions, and in the medical team that is ever-present. Whether God brings physical healing or spiritual transformation, salvation or comfort, He brings Himself, and that is the deepest form of healing any of us can receive.
A Prayer for the Sick and the Caregiver
“Lord, You are the God who heals. Bring comfort, strength, and hope to the one who is sick.
Bring endurance, peace, and tenderness to the one who cares. Use prayer, medicine, love, and community as instruments of Your healing. Let miracles unfold, both seen and unseen.
Hold the patient in Your hands and the caregiver in Your heart. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”