Isaiah proclaims: "They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength."

While we can, and perhaps often do, pray for good health or a recovery from illness, in the context of the liturgy and spirituality, the strength which truly matters is the strength of our faith, hope and love. Acknowledging that everything we have comes from God, we may see that we renew our strength principally by letting God be our strength. In our opening prayer, we ask the Lord to keep us steadfast in his love. Within that love, we will truly experience the healing power of Christ which we pray for. We pray that we will not be discouraged by our weaknesses. Our experience of weakness, whether physical, spiritual or psychological, can be rather depressing, especially when we refuse to admit them and face up to them. But when we do acknowledge them with faith and hope in the presence of the Lord, we will be able to accept the healing power of God which goes much deeper into our being than the healing of maladies of any kind, for we will be truly kept in the love of God.