Faith has Made You Well

And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." Mark 2:2-5 

This is one of my favorite stories of Jesus healing people. His friends had such a strong faith in Jesus that they climbed up on the roof of the home where Jesus was teaching and healing, took out a section of the roof right above Jesus, and lowered their friend on his mat right down into the room. Now there probably were stairs up to the rooftop, since that is the way homes were designed during those days. The rooftop was a good place for drying laundry and food, like herbs. So there the friends were climbing up those stairs with their buddy on his mat, then they opened up a section of the roof—taking the palm branches away. As they lowered him down, people below had to make room for him. Jesus must have looked up and smiled. The faith of those friends! The paralyzed young man’s sins were forgiven, because of his friends’ faith. Jesus was so generous with His healings. Faith made that young man well—can our faith do the same? Yes. Yes, it can…and it does. With my prayers for friends and family members I’ve seen people regain their sight, instantly have upset stomachs healed, regained strength in hands, arm, legs and backs, and have renewed relationships. But there are other times that the answer must be, “No” because there was no healing. That doesn’t mean that God doesn’t care. It just means that the trial must continue a while longer—that God has another plan. We just don’t know. We can only ask and trust Him to hear and answer our prayers. There is no “formula” for getting what we want from God—we merely need to have a clean heart (confess our sins), be obedient to follow His commandments, have faith that God will hear and answer our prayers, and persistently pray in Jesus’ name. When we pray in Jesus’ name, as He told us to do (see John 16:24), we come before God the Father’s throne as representatives of Jesus—on His merit, not our own.

 

Jesus healed so many people…But Jesus turning and seeing her said, "Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well." At once the woman was made well. ...Then He touched their eyes, saying, "It shall be done to you according to your faith." Matthew 9:22, 29 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" Matthew 14:31 Then Jesus said to her, "O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed at once. Matthew 15:28. Faith comes from our hearts—as a gift from God. If you need more faith, ask—knowing that Jesus will give you more faith.

Training Tip –…the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 1 Timothy 1:5. Teach your children FAITH by your example. Pray believing—and keep a record of your prayers. Share with your family the joys of answered prayers. That will encourage your children to pray, too. There is power in prayers—even for small children.

Lord God, please continue to teach us to pray—and give us the faith to believe in You and the miraculous answers that You provide. Thank you for hearing and answering. You alone are worthy of all the praise and glory. Be glorified, Lord. Be glorified.

 

Continued prayers for Michelle--heal her pancreas...and gallbladder. Blessings, Sweetie!

All scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise noted.

© 2013 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.