Tag: healing

Luke 4:38-44

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            One of the most fundamental truths about the person of Jesus is that he healed all kinds of people.  Even people who know very little about the historical Jesus know that he was a guy who brought healing to people while he was here on this earth.  For many Christians, the fact that Christ healed people is almost a “ho-hum” moment because we are so familiar with the Gospel stories about him doing the supernatural.  Yet, like with most Scripture stories we encounter, we really need to slow down a bit and let the story sink in:  “Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.”
 
            Every one of them, Jesus healed.  There apparently was no disease, no infirmity, no sickness, no malady, and no situation that was too much for Jesus.  He healed every one of them.  Each and every person, without exception, no matter the problem, was healed by Jesus.  What is more, please notice how they came to Jesus:  All those who had any who were sick brought them to Jesus.  That is, it was the family, the friends, and the neighbors of the sick persons who brought them to Jesus for healing.
 
            We are not to simply exhort sick and infirmed people to look to Jesus for healing.  We are to bring them to Jesus ourselves.  Perhaps one of the main reasons we are not seeing more healing and new life in the Western church is because we are not bringing the needy to Jesus.  Maybe it is our lack of faith and action, and not the sick person’s that prevents healing from being realized.  Methinks that a profound dearth and lack of prayer for others might be at the core of all the physical, mental, and spiritual sickness that abounds.  Let us bring people to Jesus, and let him heal every one of them.
 

 

            Healing God, there is no problem you cannot rectify and no disease you cannot overcome.  I bring all those with cancer, chronic illness, and debilitating depression to you now, in Jesus’ name.  Let the healing come in whatever form you choose to bring it.  Amen.

Matthew 20:29-34

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            God is into asking questions.  He asks questions all throughout Scripture.  For example, early on in Genesis when Adam and Eve fell into disobedience God showed up and asked, “Where are you?”  Here is a very simple observation:  God already knew the answer to his own question.  He doesn’t ask questions because he needs information, but asks questions for our benefit.  God wanted Adam to come forward and admit where he was – living in disobedience.
 
            Today’s New Testament lesson is just plain good stuff.  Jesus is walking along with a big crowd following him, and he passes by two blind men.  They cried out to Jesus to have mercy on them.  The crowd, like some uptight parishioner in a church worship service, shushes the men for being too loud.  But the men will have none of it.  They shout even louder to Jesus.  It’s a beautiful thing.  Then Jesus asks a question: “What do you want me to do for you?”  It doesn’t take God to know what the men wanted.  Everybody knew what the men were after.  But Jesus asks the question to the men anyway.  Here’s the deal:  God wants us to admit where we are and what we want him to do for us.  The act of using our words to admit and confess our situation is important to God.
 
            Only after the men tell Jesus they want their eyes opened did Jesus do for them what they wanted.  So, what do you want Jesus to do for you?  God is looking for you and I to do more than ask for a generic blessing; he wants us to tell him exactly what we want from him – to admit our need and the place we are at in life.  Only when we humble ourselves before God in such a way can we really expect him to do the miraculous.
 

 

            Mighty God, let my eyes be opened so that I can see the wonders of your Holy Word.  Teach me your ways so that I can see to follow Jesus in everything.  Amen.

The Price of Prayer

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry Blog1 Comment
 
 
All of the Christian life is grounded in two important theological truths:  God is good; and, God acts powerfully in the world for good.  Prayer is based in the conviction that God is concerned to hear us; and, that he is able to respond and answer.  Prayer might be something that we can engage in at any time, but real God-focused, God-honoring prayer has a price.  It will cost us time, effort, vulnerability, and following through with action.  Biblical prayer is not just throwing up some private requests, but is an activity that requires something of us as a community of believers in Jesus (James 5:13-20). 
 
            The entire church is to pray – all of us, the happy and the suffering, the healthy and unhealthy.  More specifically, the New Testament letter of James tells us that the leaders/elders of the church are to pray for those who are “sick” (James 5:14).  The word James used refers not just to a physical illness, but also to those who are weak and weary, those who are completely worn down because of their life circumstances.
 
            James provides a clear chain of responsibility.  The onus is on the sick person to contact the elders of the church.  James clearly puts the need for communicating the situation on the person who is undergoing the trouble.  For many people, this is humbling and difficult, so they do not do it.  But prayer has a price – it will cost us some openness.
 
            When the needy person communicates the trouble, then the elders are to anoint the person in the name of the Lord and offer a prayer of faith on his/her behalf.  It is the leadership’s job to pray.  In the Bible, anointing with oil was a deeply symbolic act of encouragement in which a tangible thing was being done in order to lift the person from the trouble.  Physical ailments of bodily sickness; sinful problems of anger or bitterness; spiritual struggles of doubt; emotional challenges of depression; anything and everything that would cause a lack of health could be prayed over and people could be anointed and encouraged.
 
            Prayer for James was not a strictly private affair; it was a communal activity.  I want us to entertain the notion that if we are not experiencing healing, wholeness, and health whether it is physical, relational, or spiritual, then maybe God is calling you and I to not only personal private prayer, but corporate prayer offered by the elders of the church.  It is not just the prayer offered by one solitary individual that makes the sick person well – it is the collective faith prayer of the church’s leadership on the troubled person.
 
            The goal of prayer is healing in its complete form:  physical, mental, emotional, relational, and, of course, spiritual.  Effective prayer results in reconciliation with others, and a restoration to the community of faith.  To bring those who wander from the truth back – to realize a return of a prodigal – will result because of prayer (James 5:19-20).
 
            In the past ten years, the American church has experienced a pronounced slide of people out the door.  According to Christian pollster, George Barna, 25% of the U.S. population now identifies themselves in the religious category of “none.”  They have no religious affiliation.  Many of them have left churches.  You already know this.  You know it because this is not a statistic to you.  You know some of the “nones” personally.
 

 

            What will you do about it?  Wish it were different?  Lament it?  Complain about it?  Or will you and your church pray with heartfelt, earnest, passionate, deliberate, sustained, and believing prayers so that prodigals will return and those who have wandered far from God will experience the grace of Jesus Christ?  Bring them back.  Do it with prayer.

Matthew 12:9-13

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            “Ostensible” is a word that needs our familiarity.  It means to approach a person with an issue that is not the real reason for the conversation.  That is, the outward presentation does not reflect the true inward purpose for the talk.  In today’s Gospel lesson, the Pharisees act out the classic definition of the word.  They ostensibly come to Jesus and ask him a question that would lead everyone to think that they care about the law.  But the text makes it clear that the real reason for asking the question is to try and trap Jesus and make him look as if he does not revere God’s commands.  And the wise response of Jesus turns the tables on the Pharisees.  Not only does Jesus justify the healing on the Sabbath, but unmasks their pretense and exposes the Pharisees’ truly uncaring disposition.  The result is twofold:  the man with the withered hand is restored; and, the Pharisees come away from the encounter determined to do away with Jesus, their hatred inflamed.
             Basic human nature has not changed much over the centuries.  There are people in the church and “believers” everywhere who ostensibly uphold the Bible and appear to care about the things of God, but inwardly harbor the pretense of looking godly and/or seeking to undo another person who threatens their image.  These types of people are outwardly polite, caring, and concerned; they are not obnoxious.  But behind the scenes they undermine others and form secret alliances to topple those who stand in the way of their personal agendas.
             The lectionary readings for the past few weeks have focused on the healing ministry of Jesus.  While restoring broken people, Christ exposes evil and brings the demonic realm out of the shadows.  If a person ostensibly operates one way for people to see but inwardly is another person, then that individual has more in common with the devil than with Jesus.  We must be savvy to such persons so that we are not intimidated to bind up the brokenhearted and have a genuine ministry of healing others in Jesus’ name.  Let the inspiration of Jesus, the love of God the Father and the courage of the Holy Spirit keep you vigilant and strong to truly serve others.
             Mighty God, who has broken the power of sin and brought victory through Jesus, enable me to live my life in such a way as to help others so that the kingdom of God draws near to the people around me.  Strengthen my faith so that I walk in confidence, reflecting my Lord in all things.  Amen.