Prayers for healing

Prayers in times of illness and the hope of recovery.

Christian prayer for the sick goes back to the New Testament, where James instructs the elders of the Church to pray over those who are ill. The tradition has continued in every century since, in every Christian tradition. The prayers gathered here are for illness itself and for those who care for the sick. They include the Church's formal prayers from the Visitation of the Sick service in the Book of Common Prayer, the Orthodox prayers for healing, and the personal prayers Christians have used at the bedside of someone they love. They do not promise healing. They ask for it, and for the grace to endure if it does not come.