Healing and Prayer.

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5992868649400573825.post-77901416370648161942008-04-28T10:45:00.001-07:002008-04-28T10:45:01.739-07:00Healing and Prayer.Healings and Prayer. Mark 3:1-6. And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. Mark 3:1-2 (NKJV) Do you believe that God can heal the sick? This is the hardest thing for a servant of God to do, for we know Jesus can heal and we know that the disciples healed, but can God heal through you when you meet up with sick individuals? Mark had to deal with the reality that one day; he too would enter a place to find a sick person. Yet could he be in authority to heal like Christ was? This is a subject that we all face. Some Christians pray for others only when they are asked to. A person that comes their way tells of a sickness they have and if they ask, that is when the Christian will pray for them; but that was not the actions of Christ and if we are to be like Christ, we should instantly go to the person and pray for their healing. James tells us that the fervent prayer of a faithful Christian has much weight with God and that we should pray for others; yet, this tool of such great magnitude is the one that is dropped from routine and much because of worry and fear of how others will react. One reason that Christians fail to mention the option of prayer is they fear that the person might think differently of them. Our own savior was confronted by Pharisees with jealous hearts and He knew their thoughts and yet fear did not stop Him, and it should not stop us either. People will be people, but we will only get one chance to serve God through this life; therefore, we should summons Him to be dramatic in His healing touch. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, "Step forward." Then He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. Mark 3:3-5 (NKJV) Though Jesus did more than pray; He reached out with a healing touch. The afterthought of Christ needs our careful inspection. Jesus considered this healing as doing good and contrasted the actions of not healing as being evil. This suggests that if He was to pass the person by without any interaction, it would have been an evil thing. How much more evil is it when we can pray for someone and choose not to? Nowhere in the Bible are Christians commanded to heal in the name of the Lord. Though it is a very reasonable action that God heals through His servants, they are not expected to try to heal with a touch. However, this does not apply to praying for the sick. Christians are commanded to pray for the sick. As a Christian we should consider the moral complications of our actions. If Christ was to pass the man by, He mentions that the man would have died and to pass him by would have been equal to killing him. Therefore Christ healed the man physically and the spiritual healing may have saved this man's life for eternity. The Apostle James also wrote, Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. James 4:17 (NKJV) Too many Christians pass by the word sin or actions of sin as if they never happened. Yet the reality is God watches the actions of Christians to prove their faith in Him. If a person is not living up to the name of Christian, which means to be like Christ, their un-Christ like actions is a statement of their un-belief in God. God is good and wants to heal. God is great and God is able to heal. God is compassionate, loving, and never intended men or women to suffer sickness; yet because sin entered the world sickness exists. Therefore, God is able to heal, but seeks to heal the whole person. The man came to the synagogue to be healed by God and when Jesus saw they did nothing to help this man He became upset. When they could have comforted the man, they did not. When they could have prayed for the man, they did nothing. When they knew that a person with healing powers was in their city, they did not care enough about the person to bring them to Him. With a scowl on His face, a face of anger was a message to the Pharisees who would rather not heal so that they could not be accused of breaking the Sabbath. He hated that they would not comfort the man or that they would not do something to help him and though furious with their sin, Jesus did the miracle so they may see the truth and repent. His anger was such to show them they needed to change. His intentions were to rebuke their insolence, and in hopes to shake them up so they would wake up from their disbelief in God. Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him. Mark 3:6 (NKJV) Every person will have a reaction to this teaching, as each of us will have an opportunity to do good; yet, each of us will react differently. Many people will respond to the prompting of the scriptures; however, some people will continue to pass people by, having opportunities to pray, but never stopping to consider their needs. Then again, some will be brave enough to suggest that God can heal there on the spot and reach out their hand in belief. The Pharisees did neither. Their reaction was to take the matter to a law influencing group called the Herodians who favored Greek customs, Jewish law, and were pro Roman. They hoped to build consensus with leaders and to bolster the anger against Jesus. Hearts can be a very hard member of our bodies. Each person must recon their directions and go in them. For some this means trouble, for others service; but for others, they will see many miracles and grow in faith for Prayer changes things.TCW Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17670070074138564679noreply@blogger.com