A loved one dies…a friend is diagnosed with cancer…a child is tragically killed.
This morning I was struggling a little bit. A loved one dies… Hopelessness?
No- we have a blessed hope Titus 2:13. Don’t believe the lies.
And now, brothers and sisters, I want you to know what will happen to the Christians who have died so you will not be full of sorrow like people who have no hope.
1 Thessalonians 4:13
There is an appointed time for us all to go home. Ecc 3:2
There is no way to comprehend all His ways. He is sovereign- everything that happens is filtered by His mighty hands. He has eternity in mind- and He loves each of us with an everlasting love.
God I don’t understand.
Jananne it is not for you to understand. Just be obedient. Keep the faith.
And faith never dulls feelings. So if you need to sob, sob. If you need to get mad, get mad. He understands. Need to scream, scream. Just don’t pull away from the Savior…
So, we think, I’m just not going to pray- my prayers don’t matter. Look what happens. People suffer anyway.
Pray, an action verb, occurs 313 times in the KJV of the Bible. The word prayer occurs 107 times, prayers, 24 times.
I think God is trying to tell us something. We are called to pray…He is the one who hears and heals.
The prayers of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:16.
I use to think I couldn’t pray because I wasn’t righteous enough…well- we are only made righteous by the blood of Calvary…I heard a pastor once share that he hadn’t been with Jesus all day…his usual quiet time had been interrupted, he had grown impatient with someone…etc…at the end of the day he didn’t even feel like he could open his mouth to pray and he heard Jesus say…stop trying to pray in your own name and pray in MINE!!!!
My NC pastor, Branson Sheets, shared a message on Powerful Healing Prayer and one on Hope a few years ago. Two messages I will never forget. This morning, I had a nudge from the Holy Spirit to listen to them again- truth and grace. He also mentioned that this message may offend some- well- that's ok too. I tend to grow the most when I'm offended!
Branson reminded us that in the Word of God, sick people came to Jesus and Jesus healed them. He told his disciples to go in His name and heal the sick.
We are His disciples. We should also pray that the sick will be healed in Jesus name. You may think that you don’t have faith like that…
The Word says we are all given a measure of faith (Romans 12:3) and Jesus also shares that it can be as small as mustard seed (Matt 17:20). God puts the miracle grow on it!
He is the source of all divine healing.
In his message, Pastor Sheets investigated the reasons people don’t pray…
I’ve already covered one reason…we haven’t wrapped our brains around the name we are praying in! Your personal worthiness has nothing to do with it. Only by His grace, is His power living in you as a believer. His authority. In JESUS name.
As I was searching yesterday, I thought about this verse…John 14:12-13 He that believeth me on me, the works I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father.
He’s talking about us there…
And there is the fear of failure…I don’t know what to say… what if he/she doesn’t get healed?
So you pray a safe prayer. Here it is…Lord, if it is your will make this person well.
It is His will, according to His Word for a person to be healed. Spiritually and physically. Read the Lord’s prayer- the ultimate example. On earth, as it is in heaven. There are no sick people in heaven...and He says on earth as it is in heaven...that means His will on earth...is for you to be healed. Again, there is an appointed time for all to go to their eternal home…but while we are here- He wants you well.
In His Word it is clear that God wants His best for us. If you find yourself praying a weak prayer- stop, take a breath, refire…
I just know that He calls me to pray.
And He does promise that He will use all things- even unimaginable loss for good, for those that love Him. Romans 8:28. I have seen countless families deal with an unbearable loss and give God the glory for carrying them through it all.
I heard a testimony from a mother this summer from our GA church. Her son was killed in a car accident on the way to our church Easter Sunday several years ago...but still she had the Joy of the Lord in her heart. She gave her son's testimony. He had accepted Christ as his Savior just months before at our youth conference. She encouraged parents that day to get their kids into a good church and put a priority on things like youth conferences instead of just soccer camps. The conference that her son attended (Forward) turned out to be the most important day of his life.
Think of the depth of Christ's compassion for us. Christ wept at the tomb of Lazarus and He knew all…John 11:33-38.
Reinhard Bonnke shares this:
“Jesus saw in this scene of sorrow the agony of all bereavements. Death did not merely affect His friend Lazarus. It was not for His own circumstances that He showed such deep feeling. “He had no tears for His own griefs but sweat drops of blood for mine,” wrote songwriter Charles H. Gabriel. Jesus saw every funeral at that moment, and the king of terrors that haunt mankind with death. It was because He possessed this profound compassion that He went down into the caverns of death and conquered it.
This is the love, the gospel, and what we the Church, are all about. This is the Gospel the world needs.” August 5, 2009
The compassion of Christ placed Him on Calvary…for you and for me.
Back to prayer… if you feel like you don’t know how to pray, know that our prayers don’t have to be fancy.
Think about how Jesus prayed.
Get up (John 5:8)(Mark 5:41)
Be healed(Mark 1:41).
Speak the Word of God over the circumstance.
The Word shows us that OUR faith can play a part in healing…the woman with the issue of blood(Mark 5). It also demonstrates that a friend’s faith can bring us healing through Jesus Christ. Think of Jarius interceding for his child and the friends raising a roof to lower their buddy to Jesus. It was their faith that got their friends to the Father!!! My dear friend Mary Alice reminded me of this truth in His Word just recently!
So- the point is, pray believing, in the name of Jesus, with His authority- not yours.
I have seen miracles first hand. I have also see precious, God fearing, faith filled folks lose a loved one unexpectedly.
I don’t understand. Only God does. He has eternity in mind, always.
He calls us to pray. Praising Our Savior-jananne
