Over the past few weeks the Holy Spirit has opened my eyes to the illnesses and sicknesses people are facing in this world. Because I never want to stand in the way of what God wants me to share and do- I was asking him to lead me before I write another post and conduct one of my morning prayer calls. During this waiting period, my eyes were opened and I was more in tune with people's personal health issues. The Sunday before last my pastor conducted a random alter call for healing for those were facing serious health issues and my heart broke to see so many people old and young stand around that alter but, I knew in this moment he wanted me to pray for healing. As I began to seek his word I was drawn to the book of Matthew where there are many stories of how Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead! God's word provides us with hope and stories that we can relate to our lives here on Earth. Because we live in a fallen world, sickness, disease, evil and hate exist but thanks be to God for the gift of eternal life after death. When Jesus healed the paralyzed man in Matthew 9:2- he said "take heart my son, your sins are forgiven." This is powerful because it shows how much Jesus cares for our spiritual health even more than our physical health. This man was paralyzed in his spirit and in his body and Jesus forgave him of his sins- which declared his eternal salvation and raised him up physically!! This really spoke volume because sometimes especially when we lose a loved one after we have prayed for healing it's only human for us to have some question. After I read over this scripture, I realized that indeed God is capable and has all power to do the unthinkable (healing, miracles ect) and although we should never stop praying- we are living in a fallen world of sin- so with this it's even more important for us to pray and assure our salvation so we can experience eternal life after death which will be free of pain, sufferings, sicknesses and diseases and all evil. As I continued to move through the chapter of Matthew I was led to read a more familiar passage about how God restored the woman who had the issue of blood for twelve years. She thought to herself "if only I can just touch him" in her thinking Jesus turned to her and out of all the people around him he said " your faith has made you healed." This was another powerful story- about faith and never giving up when we pray because as we can see she suffered for a while and was instantly healed after years of sufferings! I pray I can have such faith as the woman had believing Jesus had what she needed and may my thought process of knowing get me the results because of my faith. In retrospect, I also pray I can have the boldness to continue to tell lost sinners about Christ so that they can have the gift of eternal life that is promised to us if we believe and confess our sins and allow Jesus into our hearts. There is power in belief and God is a healer. He has all power and can do what we are believing him for however, we also must accept that no one will live forever and its not if but when we die that matters the most. Keep praying and keep the faith! I do pray for healing and restoration in the sick and will never cease to pray for God's healing because it can be done! Jesus is no longer walking the face of the earth-he sits at the right hand of God interceding on our behalf so we as believers have to carry out the job he once did. I pray that you are encouraged, inspired and motivated just as I am encouraged, inspired and motivated to continue to do what God has called me to do.
