All tagged healing
Does our life get in the way of our praying? Do the hardships we face each day stifle our inward enthusiasm for prayer, or do we redouble our effort in it as we bring those trials before the Lord? Often, when faced by incredible hardship or suffering we attempt to fix those things first and pray for them second. The pitfall in this strategy is frustration, depression, and a loss of hope. This inevitably leads to difficulty in prayer.
Two days ago we spoke of cases where prayer wasn't answered immediately, and today we will speak further on that subject through the biblical story of Jesus healing the two blind men in Capernaum. This is indeed the first example we have of Jesus healing the blind... He had been busy through the course of the day, healing, teaching, calling Matthew to follow Him, and raising the dead, but as the people continued to follow after Him we read of two blind men calling out to Him from the crowd for healing. It appears that perhaps Jesus didn't hear them, and yet they continued to follow after Him until they finally entered into the house where He was, and there, because of their faith, He restored their sight.
Where are we as a people? We might wake up in the morning with a cough, but by mid-day it has gone. When this occurs we think it only natural, and that our body has healed itself, but in truth we are healed by grace every day despite becoming hardened to faith, and turning away from the ways of God. Our Heavenly Father heals without our knowing, and walks quietly with us, even with the most despicable sinners, as He whispers to our hearts, and loves us in our most undeserving moments. Will we repent? Will we turn to the Lord? Will our hearts be healed, and our feet find the way home, without our knowing?
Oil plays an important role in the lives of the believer, it is used to anoint the godly, heals us, lights our way, serves as an offering, brings us gladness, and has so many other uses. The question each of us should ask ourselves today is what manner of oil do we bring into the world around us? Is the oil we carry fragrant, holy, and filled with joy, or is it a thick black unrefined oil that might lubricate man’s machines, but stains all that it touches? So today let’s begin to ask ourselves each day what manner of oil we bring with us as we walk out into our day.
We all know the old saying that time heals all wounds, but as hopeful as that sounds it is not as true as we are asked to believe. In fact, the sole healer of all wounds is God. Time and natural processes might heal a wound to a degree, but it always leaves behind a telltale scar. God, on the other hand, heals us perfectly, and our scars are gone, replaced with the remembrance of the wounds of Christ.
Prayer heals us; it heals our physical illnesses, and it heals our spiritual sickness. The answer of prayer can be seen in the lame walking again, and it can also be witnessed in the forgiveness of sin. What is our need today? Is our body, or the body of a loved one, in need of prayer? Are we desperately in need of salvation, or the forgiveness of sin?
When we who have been lost, or have wandered astray, turn back to the Lord, He reestablishes us in our faith. Every day the ground in which that faith is rooted becomes richer through the application of His Word that fertilizes it, and through His love which fills our lives with His goodness and mercy. He pours himself out like a gentle rain to nourish us through His grace which flows like living water through Jesus Christ, and by the understanding of His will for us that His Holy Spirit gives. When we look about us we see a broken world that is lost, but the Lord has been waiting patiently for us to sow the seeds of righteousness within it, and to turn its wayward inhabitants back towards Him by pulling at their leads. Are we ready to stop wringing our hands in despair, and start breaking ground? It is time for all believers to begin sowing the seeds of the gospel of Jesus once more.
As Christians we need to behave different from the worldly, and in times of joy, or trouble, we should always trust in the Lord our God, and rejoice in the company of fellow Saints who follow Jesus. Those in the world will turn to other men when they are in trouble, and look to their kings and governments to provide for them, and feed them, when they are hungry, but ungodly men who hold out one hand with food or help, will extend the other for payment, and those who celebrate in the world, do so with the unbelieving who drink to excess, revel in sexual sin, and sing songs espousing lies against God, Jesus, and Their commandments.
Some of us are feeling weak and faint today, and in our sickness or suffering, we have lost hope, but there is one source of hope and strength for us that will never fail us; that is able to heal every ill. Our God, the God of Abraham, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, He is our unfailing hope, and the source of strength to the sick and suffering. He restores health and vigor to those who will trust in Him, and who come to Him in the name of Jesus… His love for us is unfathomable, and He walks with us through every valley.
We suffer in this world, and sometimes do so unto death, and the dark one would have us believe that our physical struggle, and eventual death, indicates a spiritual defeat, but that is not true. We overcome the world in the fact that despite the pain, suffering, and even death we experience in it we love, and are loved, we know God and are strengthened against all fear, and Jesus abides in us... filling us with His peace, and a calm beyond all measure. Just as none could take the life of Christ without His laying it down, so it is with the Christian who’s life can only be forfeit if he yields it in fear and defeat... not the body which is meant to die, but the soul which is eternal.
Do you have COVID-19, or some other deadly disease, and wish to overcome it? If so how are you praying, or better put; are you simply praying that the suffering be lifted from you or are you praying that your sins be forgiven, your life comes to reflect the will of God, and that God would heal you to serve Him more? When we hurt and are sick, or afraid of death, it is so easy to pray for relief without confessing our sins, asking forgiveness, and repairing the state of our soul within God’s will.
Are you broken in some way today? Perhaps your heart cries out, and your spirit longs for relief from the troubles of the world that have ravaged your sense of wellbeing? The world can do great harm to us physically, but its greatest damage is inflicted against us spiritually. Ask yourself this... Has pain found its home in your soul today, and if it has are you calling out to God for spiritual healing?