I have struggled for years with chronic back pain, probably due to a combination of scoliosis, poor posture, and stress. It's not something I enjoy, of course; but it is something that I have learned to live with, and I don't really even think about it much anymore. It's just become a part of who I am.
But anyway, some friends of mine heard about my back pain, and decided that they wanted to pray over me and ask the Lord to heal me. So we met together on campus in the middle of the day, and just read the Bible and talked and prayed together. It was really a special time.
One of the passages that we read was from Luke 5, in which Jesus healed the paralytic. As I was sitting there reading this story with my friends, something seemed to almost jump off of the page to me - the incredible faith of the paralytic's friends.
This man had probably lived with his paralysis for many years. It's likely (or at least highly plausible) that he, like me, had learned to live with his disability. It's not that he didn't have faith in God; it's more along the lines that he had just come to accept that this was his lot in life. In fact, he actually did show faith in Jesus when he immediately obeyed Jesus' command to stand up, take up his mat, and go home.
But it was the faith of his friends who were instrumental in bringing him (literally!) to healing. It was the faith of his friends who brought him on the pallet to Jesus in the first place. And it was the faith of his friends who, when they found that they could not enter the house because of the crowds, literally tore the roof off of the house in their zeal to see their friend healed.
Is there someone in your life who needs healing? Maybe someone who has struggled with something for so long that it has almost become a part of them? Have they prayed for healing and for release, to no avail? It doesn't have to be something physical - God can bring about all types of healing, whether it be physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. But perhaps the reason that they are still waiting on God to move it not because of a lack of faith on their part, but rather on yours.
God made us for community. He made us to bear each other's burdens. He made us to take care of and look out for each other. Like the paralytic's friends, He wants us to bring to Him those who do not have the strength to do so themselves. Who in your life is needing you to help them tear through the roof and lay themselves at the feet of Jesus?
But anyway, some friends of mine heard about my back pain, and decided that they wanted to pray over me and ask the Lord to heal me. So we met together on campus in the middle of the day, and just read the Bible and talked and prayed together. It was really a special time.
One of the passages that we read was from Luke 5, in which Jesus healed the paralytic. As I was sitting there reading this story with my friends, something seemed to almost jump off of the page to me - the incredible faith of the paralytic's friends.
This man had probably lived with his paralysis for many years. It's likely (or at least highly plausible) that he, like me, had learned to live with his disability. It's not that he didn't have faith in God; it's more along the lines that he had just come to accept that this was his lot in life. In fact, he actually did show faith in Jesus when he immediately obeyed Jesus' command to stand up, take up his mat, and go home.
But it was the faith of his friends who were instrumental in bringing him (literally!) to healing. It was the faith of his friends who brought him on the pallet to Jesus in the first place. And it was the faith of his friends who, when they found that they could not enter the house because of the crowds, literally tore the roof off of the house in their zeal to see their friend healed.
Is there someone in your life who needs healing? Maybe someone who has struggled with something for so long that it has almost become a part of them? Have they prayed for healing and for release, to no avail? It doesn't have to be something physical - God can bring about all types of healing, whether it be physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. But perhaps the reason that they are still waiting on God to move it not because of a lack of faith on their part, but rather on yours.
God made us for community. He made us to bear each other's burdens. He made us to take care of and look out for each other. Like the paralytic's friends, He wants us to bring to Him those who do not have the strength to do so themselves. Who in your life is needing you to help them tear through the roof and lay themselves at the feet of Jesus?
Luke 5:17-26
17 One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
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