PRAYING THROUGH A CHILD’S ILLNESS
28 Days of Prayer
Wessel Bentley
PRAYING THROUGH A CHILD’S ILLNESS: 28 Days of Prayer
Copyright © 2011 by Wessel Bentley
All rights reserved.
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Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, © copyright 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Cover design: Left Coast Design, Portland, OR www.lcoast.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bentley, Wessel.
Praying through a child’s illness : 28 days of prayer / Wessel Bentley.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-8358-1064-7
1. Parents—Prayers and devotions. 2. Sick children.
3. Intercessory prayer. 4. Prayer—Christianity. I. Title.
BV4845.B46 2011
242'.4—dc22 2011011195
Printed in the United States of America
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank three groups of people who made this book possible. Needless to say, the first is my family: Natalie, Matthew, and Nathan. Your love, encouragement, and support through good times and bad bear testimony to God’s work in our little “team.” Second, thanks must go to Africa Upper Room Ministries and those who assist them. Specifically, thanks go to Roland Rink, Renny Stoltz, Thyrza Price, and Dion Forster for doing the first editing of the manuscript. Finally, thanks must go to the team at Upper Room Ministries, Nashville. Sarah Wilke, Robin Pippin, Joanna Bradley, Jeannie Crawford-Lee, and many others have done a wonderful job in putting together this edition of the book. God bless you all.
* * *
Dedicated to Matthew, our son.
Since birth
you reminded us of God’s love.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
How to use this book
WEEK 1: HOW CAN THIS BE?
The shock of knowing
Feeling exhausted
Does God care?
Why?
Gaining clarity
The gift of listening
Sunday: Celebrate God’s Faithfulness
WEEK 2: WHOM CAN I BLAME?
Is it God’s fault?
Was it me?
Is it the devil?
What about the doctors?
Where is the church?
Elusive peace
Sunday: Celebrate God’s Presence
WEEK 3: WHAT CAN I DO?
Can I do anything?
When I feel weak
Allowing others
When all I can do is pray
When I cannot pray anymore
Equipping myself
Sunday: Celebrate God’s Ability
WEEK 4: HOW DO WE LIVE?
One day at a time
Our daily bread
Entrusting God with the future
Faith
Hope
Love
Sunday: Celebrate the Gift of Life
Conclusion
Reflection Questions
Notes
About the Author
Events during the first year of our firstborn son’s life inspired this book. What you are about to read is based on our experience and the experiences of others who have walked the road of caring for an ill child. You will see that there are no generic answers but simply thoughts and prayers that helped us through difficult times. Allow me to briefly share our story with you.
For two years Natalie and I had been trying to conceive without success. You can imagine our joy when the doctor phoned, saying, “You are going to have a baby!” We were ecstatic. Just when we thought that all hope was lost, it happened. We were going to have a baby! Not only would this child be our first, but he or she would be the first grandchild on both sides of the family. Grannies started knitting, grandpas talked about taking this child on fishing trips. This child was not only going to be our child but also would belong to the whole family.
Weeks and months passed and, with the doctor, we agreed that this little boy, who would be called Matthew, would be delivered via caesarean section on September 11, 2003. We chose to give Matthew an unofficial second name, Nkosinathi. “Matthew” means “gift from God,” and “Nkosinathi” means “God is with us.” We couldn’t have imagined how much these names would mean in the months and years that followed.
Matthew Nkosinathi Bentley was delivered on the morning of September 11, a Thursday morning. Everything appeared to go well with the procedure. Matthew emerged, a seemingly healthy little boy, screaming at the top of his lungs. I will never forget his face, all wrinkly, with his eyes barely open. The doctors and nursing staff quickly took him away to be weighed and to do the necessary checks. Then, without any comment, they charged with him to the neonatal intensive care unit. He was turning blue, a sign of lack of oxygen. Natalie was heavily sedated and did not know quite what was going on. I stood feeling helpless and all alone. What were minutes felt like hours.
The medical team first thought something was wrong with Matthew’s lungs; they inserted drainage pipes, but this did not help. A cardiologist arrived; after a prolonged ultrasound, she called me aside. Matthew had severe heart defects, she told me. His aorta and pulmonary arteries were switched around, a condition called Transposition of the Great