Prayer for Sick Child

When Your Child Is Sick, Nothing Else Exists

When your child is sick, the world narrows. There is one focus- on one small face, temperature readings, medical test, and phone calls you are waiting for. Everything else falls away. You would trade places in a heartbeat, and the fact that you cannot is a pain no words can describe.

That is exactly what this page is for. Kapitel 116 of Tehillim, composed b’ruach hakodesh, reaches into the place where a person is surrounded by danger and crying out to Hashem for life. The passuk says: Shomer pesa’im Hashem — “Hashem protects the simple.” By extension, a small child — innocent, trusting, unable to protect themselves — fits the description of a pesi, the helpless one Hashem guards. When you say this kapitel for your sick child, you are placing your child into those words, asking Hashem to do for your little one what He has always done for the helpless.

Before You Say This Kapitel

Find a quiet moment. It does not have to be perfect. If you are sitting by your child’s bedside, that is a meaningful place to daven for her. Chazal teach that the Shechinah is above the head of the sick person, and Shulchan Aruch writes that when one prays for the sick in the person’s presence, one may pray in any language. Bedside tefillah is therefore well grounded, though not exclusive. Close your eyes. Let your heart speak. Say to Hashem:

Master of the Universe, my child is sick — and I would give everything to trade places. He is small, doesn’t understand why it hurts, and my heart is tearing apart. Hashem protects the simple — protect my child, heal him, and return his smile. God of Meir, answer me.

If giving tzedakah, add:

In the merit of the tzedakah I give in the merit of Rabbi Meir — who loved the children of Israel — so may You heal my child. Ribbono Shel Olam, I care for Your children — please care for my child.

Kapitel 116: The Full Prayer

Kapitel 116 was written by Dovid HaMelech after Hashem saved him from mortal danger. The entire kapitel is a cry of gratitude from someone who was at the lowest point and was pulled back. The pasuk “Shomer pesa’im Hashem” (Tehillim 116:6) teaches that Hashem watches over those who cannot protect themselves, and Chazal invoke this principle in Yevamos 12b and Niddah 31a. Chazal teach (Bava Metzia 59a, Berachos 32b) that even when other gates of prayer are closed, the gates of tears are never closed — and a parent’s tears for a sick child are heard in Shamayim. When you say this kapitel, know that your tears are not falling to the ground.

What These Words Mean for You

Shoimier p’so’im Hashem “Hashem protects the simple.”

The word pesa’im comes from the shoresh pei-tav-aleph, meaning simple, innocent, unguarded. The Gemara in Yevamos (12b) teaches that Hashem watches over those who cannot protect themselves.

A child is the very definition of this. Small, trusting, unable to understand why the pain is happening. When you say these words, you are telling Hashem: my child fits into this passuk. He guards the helpless ones. Guard mine. Onnoh Hashem maltoh nafshi “O Hashem, save my life!”

The word maltoh comes from the shoresh mem-lamed-tes, meaning to rescue, to pull free from danger.

Dig Deeper

This is not a polite request. It is a raw cry. In the psalm itself, the speaker is in deep distress and cries out to Hashem. That is what a parent does when a child is sick. You are not making a calm request. You are begging. And Hashem hears that kind of tefillah. In this moment, you say maletah nafshi for your child’s nefesh. Pull my child free.

Ki chilatzto nafshi mimoves es-eini min-dim’oh “You have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears.”

The shoresh of chilatzto is ches-lamed-tzadi, to draw out, to rescue. Here the speaker thanks Hashem not only for saving his life, but for removing the tears and preventing collapse.

Dig Deeper

A parent sitting with a sick child knows exactly what those tears mean. You have cried until you cannot cry anymore. In its plain meaning, this passuk is a song of gratitude after deliverance. But as tefillah, it can also become an act of emunah — giving voice to the healing you are pleading to see. You are telling Hashem: I trust You to take these tears away. Many who carry this need also turn to a prayer in hospital for comfort.

Kois y’shuois eso uvsheim Hashem ekro “I raise the cup of deliverance and invoke Hashem’s name.”

The word yeshuos comes from the shoresh yud-shin-ayin, meaning salvation. Dovid — or more precisely, the speaker of the psalm — speaks of a cup of salvations in the plural.

That language suggests abundance, not a thin or partial rescue.

In the context of the psalm, it is the language of gratitude: raising the cup, calling in Hashem’s Name, and giving thanks publicly. For a parent watching a child suffer, this becomes a promise to hold onto — that when the refuah comes, it will lead to gratitude, praise, and acknowledgment of Hashem’s kindness. You will raise that cup, b’ezras Hashem, and give thanks.

How to Say This Prayer

There is no wrong time to say a prayer for sick child. Say it at the bedside. Say it in the hospital corridor. Say it at two in the morning when the worry will not let you sleep. Hashem does not need you standing in shul with a clean mind. He hears a parent’s broken heart wherever it cries out.

You can say this kapitel sitting or standing, in Hebrew or in English. Say it at the bedside. Chazal teach that the Shechinah is with the choleh, and Shulchan Aruch writes that when you ask for rachamim in the sick person’s presence, you may do so in any language. If the Hebrew feels too hard right now, you can say this kapitel in English or use the transliteration while you are there with your child. Stand beside the bed, or sit nearby respectfully. Bring the fear, the helplessness, and the longing for your child’s healing into the words. You are not performing a ritual. You are speaking to your Father in Shamayim about your child.

Tefillah and tzedakah strengthen each other. When you daven for your child and also give tzedakah in the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, you are not davening to Rabbi Meir. You are asking Hashem to hear your cry in the combined merit of this great tzaddik and your own act of chesed. Your tefillah rises, and your tzedakah rises with it. After the kapitel, you may add: Elokah d’Meir aneni!

Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness

The Gemara (Avodah Zarah 18a-18b) tells how Bruria asked Rabbi Meir to rescue her sister, who was condemned by the Romans to a house of shame. To rescue her, Rabbi Meir approached the guard, teaching him to say “Elaha d’Meir aneni!” — “God of Meir, answer me!” — if he was ever in danger. When the guard asked for proof, Rabbi Meir said the words and nearby dogs that had been ready to attack turned away. The guard was convinced and released her, ultimately using these same words to save his life when he was caught.

Your child is also vulnerable and in need of rescue. By giving tzedakah in the zechus of Rabbi Meir,  your act of kindness joins with generations of Yidden who stood in this same place and cried out, and were answered. You are asking Hashem to hear your tefillah in the merit of Rabbi Meir and in the merit of your own chesed.

The Gemara in Shabbos 12a teaches that when visiting the sick on Shabbos, one says: “Shabbos hi miliz’ok, u’refuah kerovah lavo.” Rabbi Meir adds: “Yecholah hi sheterachem” — Shabbos itself has the power to bring mercy. This sugya is the source for the special Shabbos wording said when visiting the sick.

Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities, founded 1799, supports talmidei chachamim and the poor in Eretz Yisrael. The talmidei chachamim at the kever of Rabbi Meir in Tiberias daven for those who reach out to them. Give tzedakah for the poor of Eretz Yisrael in the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, and let your chesed rise together with your tefillah for your child.

Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness

A Brachah for Your Child’s Healing

You came here with a heaviness on the heart that only a parent of a sick child knows. Hashem sees the parent who cannot sleep, who cannot eat, who would give everything to carry this sickness instead.

May Hashem send a refuah sheleimah to your child, b’soch sh’ar cholei Yisrael. May the doctors have clarity, the treatments work, and the healing come swiftly. May you see your child laugh again, run again, be a child again. And may the day come, soon, when you look back at this time and say with Dovid HaMelech: Ki chilatzto nafshi mimoves, es eini min dim’oh — “You delivered me from death, my eyes from tears.” May those tears be over.

You can submit a prayer request to the talmidei chachamimat the kever of Rebbe Meir in Tiberias at no cost — they will daven for your child’s healing by name through Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities. And if you would like to give tzedakah in Rabbi Meir’s zechus as well, your chesed will rise together with your tefillah.

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