12/15/2018
Do you have a loved one who is sick today, perhaps even unto death? Have you done all that you know how to do for them? In desperation have you at long last uttered a prayer to Jesus asking Him for a healing? Maybe this sick one is you. If this is happening in your life then surrender yourself to Jesus Christ, praying first for faith, and belief... this is the ointment that heals us.
“And Jesus said to him, "'If you can'! All things are possible for one who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!"”
Mark 9:23-24 ESV
I had a child who was sick. This child suffered from an addiction, and it was only a matter of time before death would come. I did everything I knew how to do, but nothing helped. My wife and I became distraught, and I had reached the point where I was at a loss. It was at this moment of total hopelessness that I went to Jesus and told Him that I was spent... I had nothing left. I was like the father in the passage we just read. I wept at His feet, and in that moment of total surrender my prayers were answered. Even though I had prayed many times before... my faith had finally reached that point, in my submission, that raised it to crescendo. In my confessed weakness and humble surrender Jesus strengthened my faith, heard my prayer, and healed my child. Miracles don’t happen because we know the words to say... they happen because our faith becomes our prayer, and often this comes in the form of a moan, or some deep throated utterance. Our desperation becomes our strength as we ask Him for faith... to pour Himself into us, and to do so unfettered by who we think we are.
My child was healed and has been clean of addiction for many years. The healing didn’t come from an eloquent pray... it came from a simple prayer wrapped in a faith that was made complete in my absolute desperation. “I believe; help my unbelief!” Andrew Murray wrote about this as well when he penned these words...
“In order to obtain healing from Jesus, it is not enough to pray. Prayer without faith is powerless.” - Andrew Murray
Scripture drills this point home, and yet we get so ingrained in what I will call a routine of faith... or a belief that is bound by our own pride. We want a relationship with Jesus, but only on our terms. We want to follow Him, but only to the limits of our city... we stop there as He steps into the desert... into that unknown place that frightens us, and in which we risk being lost; that place where we lose hold and control. By taking that next step we place our hope, our trust, and all we are in His hands. This is faith; this is the realm of answered prayer, and this is healing... life.
“And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”
James 5:15 ESV
So I ask again... “Do you have a loved one who is sick today, perhaps even unto death?” and I say to you “Maybe this sick one is you.” Is your faith sick and frail to the point where it makes you prayer life crippled and lame? If you search yourself and your relationship with Christ and find this to be true then in tears and total release ask Him to help you strengthen your faith, and let go of your pride, self, and the fear that is limiting you.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for your Son Jesus Christ, and I ask Lord, that you strengthen my faith and make it perfect. Help me Merciful Father to let go the grasp I have on my own ability and understanding... help me to place my trust in you. Teach me Holy Father that what gives depth to my prayers is not what I say, but the fathoms of faith I measure beneath my bow. You alone answer prayer, you alone heal, and you alone can give my faith wings... even as my strength wains and the desert night surrounds me, you light my path. It is here in the darkest places of my life that you come to me in light. I wait here upon you Jesus, and I pray for the faith to follow you, and to find rest in you. Take the eloquence from my mouth and hear the weeping of my soul... hear my prayer.
Great are you my God whose mercy and grace abound. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you who waits on me to lay down my pride at your feet, and humble myself in your presence. Holy are you to whom all glory is due. Hear my prayer today Lord... take me into your arms, and help my unbelief... hear the longing for belief in my prayer Merciful Father.
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.”
Psalms 37:4-5 ESV
Rich Forbes