Their faith

Mark 2:1-5

And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” – Mark 2:5

Jesus healed a paralytic man who was brought to him by four men. Those four men were so determined to get the paralytic man to Jesus that they removed the roof to get to him.  Were they his close friends? Relatives? Believers?Perhaps childhood friends who couldn’t bear to see him wasting away? The important thing is that they got him to Jesus, to his healing, even when there was no more room because of the crowd.

‘When Jesus saw their faith’. Was ‘their faith’ that of the four men or did it include that of the paralytic man himself?  What happens if you’re praying for someone who has faith? What happens if you’re praying for someone who has no faith? 

When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” – Luke 7:9

The faith spoken of here is of a centurion (a Roman military commander ) who requested healing for his sick servant. There are many other examples of people having faith in Jesus to heal someone else. Sometimes the healing was for a child ( such as Jairus’ daughter in Mark 5:23) and sometimes for another adult (such as Simon’s mother in law in Luke 4:38-39). Jesus healed them all. Did the recipients all have faith?

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. – John 11:21.  But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” – John 11:22

If the recipient always needed faith to be healed, how about the story of Lazarus? He was sick, his sisters sent for Jesus. He died, his sisters went to Jesus. He was raised from the dead by Jesus.

And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. – James 5:15

Let’s keep praying for the sick. Let’s keep praying for one another. God is still answering prayers today, just like he did in the bible.

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 Isaiah 54:2-3

“Clear lots of ground for your tents!

    Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big!

Use plenty of rope,

    drive the tent pegs deep.

You’re going to need lots of elbow room

    for your growing family.

You’re going to take over whole nations;

    you’re going to resettle abandoned cities.”  (from The Message Bible)

Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked. – 1 Chronicles 4:10

But you have increased the nation, O LORD, you have increased the nation; you are glorified; you have enlarged all the borders of the land. – Isaiah 26:15

For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year. – Exodus 34:24

Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours. Your territory shall be from the wilderness to the Lebanon and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the western sea. – Deuteronomy 11:24

“When the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as he has promised you, and you say, ‘I will eat meat,’ because you crave meat, you may eat meat whenever you desire. – Deuteronomy 12:20

And if the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land that he promised to give to your fathers- – Deuteronomy 19:8

Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. – Genesis 28:14

We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, – 2 Corinthians 10:15

so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another’s area of influence. – 2 Corinthians 10:16

Are we being held back by fear or our perceptions of our unsuitability? Perhaps we feel we are too imperfect to be used by God. Jesus said to his followers: go and make disciples of all nations. He was saying, go, train and teach all countries about me. ‘Go’! Expand, increase, multiply and spread the good news about Jesus. Jesus Christ died for our sins, he was buried, he was raised from the dead on the third day, he is alive forevermore and he is coming back for his followers. When God created man he said: be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue the earth, have dominion. God’s plan is for us to tell everyone, and show every single person on earth the love of God and the good news about Jesus. Let’s not be afraid to step out and increase our sphere of influence as followers of Jesus.