When He Saw Their Faith

DAY 5

Scripture: Luke 5:17 and 20

As I read through the miracles of Jesus this morning, I couldn’t get past the contrast that we see in Luke 4 and 5. 

In Luke 4, Jesus is in His hometown, and there is an unbelief that exists because they see Jesus as Joseph’s son and are dismissive of Him, despite all that they have heard from the surrounding communities and even from Himself. 

Then you turn the page to Luke 5, and in verse 17, it says something I don’t know how to explain, but it challenges my thinking. 

“And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.”

I would say that whenever Jesus was present, the power of the Lord was present to heal. Yet even in the ministry of Jesus, there seemed to be times of a greater demonstration and reception of God’s healing work.

There were times when Jesus did not do many miracles because of the general unbelief of those there (Matthew 13:58).

 But also take notice of the verse that precedes this account. It says, 

"Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." Luke 5:16

So the power of the Lord was present to heal them after Jesus withdrew into the wilderness and prayed (Luke 5:16).

I am saying this in faith today that we are praying and fasting, asking for healing, so let’s believe that the power of the Lord to heal will be present. 

But if you keep reading, you will see another interesting aspect of this story. 

To set the story up a little, this is the account of the healing of the paralytic man that is brought by his friends and lowered through the roof in front of Jesus. When the house was too full for them to get the man near Jesus, the traditional way, verse 20 says something interesting: 

“When Jesus saw their faith…” 

Notice it doesn’t say when He saw the man’s faith, but when He saw the faith of his friends. 

For Better or worse, our faith affects others. Now, we cannot make another person a Christian, but we can do a lot through our love, actions, words, and even our faith to give them a chance to respond to the power of God.  

When we walk in on Sunday, can we come with the faith of those 4 friends, ready to do whatever is necessary to get needs before Jesus? 

Let’s increase the faith in the room, because it makes a difference. 

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Reflection Question:

Would I be willing to do the same thing to get my or my friends' needs before the Lord? Do I have faith for my friends' needs?  

Prayer Focus:

That the Power of the Lord will be present to heal on Sunday, praying the truth of scripture over our service on Sunday

Action Step:

If you know someone with a need, invite them to be here with us so we can pray over them. 

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I know of several big needs in our church and my life, and I have called and asked them to be here. Now I know God can heal them anywhere, but I want to do what James implores us to do, and anoint them with oil and pray over them. Lennon and Cooper, the two toddlers with cancer that we have been regularly praying for, will either be in the house physically or will have a family member here to stand in for them on Sunday, so we can pray over them. Another friend of mine in the church with a scary diagnosis of cancer will be there. I will also have a stand-in for several family members of mine who need a healing touch, including my Dad, and also my cousin Courtney, who is battling cancer and kidney issues right now.   

Let's have faith for our friends and family when we come! 

Do you have a need we can partner with you in prayer for? Click HERE to share it with us.