Prayer for the Sick

Isaiah 53: 5 (KJV)

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Text Review:

Num 21:4-9 (NLT)

4 Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient/discouraged (kjv) with the long journey, 5 and they began to speak against God and Moses. “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?” they complained. “There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!” 6 So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died. 7 Then the people came to Moses and cried out, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 Then the Lord told him, “Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!” 9 So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!

John 3; 14-15

14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

Do you believe? Mk 9: 23-29 – ……all this are possible to him that believes………..I believe, help my unbelief. (paraphrased).

Brief:

Consider the lame man by the pool of Bethesda, sin kept him there for 38 Years!! And even when Jesus arrived out of MERCY (John 5), he still continued to explain his conduct away, he blamed everyone except himself…Simple question; Do you want to get well? What is the right response? Yes! But no he went on…vs 7,,NLT said “I can’t sir, for I have no one to put me into the pool…………”. Jesus healed him and advised him all the same to go and sin no more. But this restoration took this man 38 years wait!

Healing us is definitely God’s desire, he has no desire that anyone should perish but he is offering us more than simply to heal us from sickness and diseases. He went beyond 39 lashes, he died at cross for our redemption, we should never forget that and never trample on it, he completed the work in full at the cross and there he said it is finished. Therefore, darkness has no hold over us anymore, the enemy has no control over us, sickness has no place in our bodies too!. The issue, however, is do we know this? Josh 1:9 – …”This is my command be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you!!!! wherever you go” Beloved, there is the shout of a king in your midst, provided you are in right standing.

***Importantly, there is a consequence for being a True Witness:

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. – Matt 11:12 (KJV)

And from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it. - Matt 11:12 (NLT)

Acts 9: 36-41 - Tabitha/Dorcas was a disciple, full of good works but she fell ill and she died. It transpired that the church cried for help and the Lord used Peter to raise her from the Dead. Our God is a compassionate God, he does not forget his own.

John 9

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2 “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” 3 “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. 4 We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. 5 But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. 7 He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing! 8 His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!” But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!” 10 They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?” 11 He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!” 12 “Where is he now?” they asked. “I don’t know,” he replied. 13 Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, 14 because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. 15 The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them. 17 Then the Pharisees again questioned the man who had been blind and demanded, “What’s your opinion about this man who healed you?” The man replied, “I think he must be a prophet.” 18 The Jewish leaders still refused to believe the man had been blind and could now see, so they called in his parents. 19 They asked them, “Is this your son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he now see?” 20 His parents replied, “We know this is our son and that he was born blind, 21 but we don’t know how he can see or who healed him. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. 23 That’s why they said, “He is old enough. Ask him.” 24 So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “God should get the glory for this, because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.” 25 “I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!” 26 “But what did he do?” they asked. “How did he heal you?” 27 “Look!” the man exclaimed. “I told you once. Didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?” 28 Then they cursed him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! 29 We know God spoke to Moses, but we don’t even know where this man comes from.”

30 “Why, that’s very strange!” the man replied. “He healed my eyes, and yet you don’t know where he comes from? 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will. 32 Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he couldn’t have done it.” 34 “You were born a total sinner!” they answered. “Are you trying to teach us?” And they threw him out of the synagogue.

Spiritual Blindness

35 When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.” 37 “You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you!” 38 “Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.

39 Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.” 40 Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?” 41 “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.

Question:

Do you want to get well? Then believe! Grace is available, it is a matter of whether you can see Grace offered, don’t blame the sickness or the people around you or even God, simply believe! Activate your faith, no matter how small it may be. Mk 11: 22-24.

Can you see? If so, what are you looking at? And what do you see? Is it Jesus? Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith….Heb 12:2

PRAYERS

• Lord, give me eyes that see, ears that hear and heart that perceives, don’t let me languish in ignorance, self-pity and sin – Matt 13:16 

• Lord, I submit my life as a living sacrifice, it’s all for your glory. I refuse to think more highly of myself than I ought to. Rom 12:1-3 

• Lord baptise me a witness, so that everything about me will testify that you are not only the saviour of my soul but you are the, light of the world, the healer, the resurrection and the life. John 9 and Acts 9:36-41 

• No matter the cost, I refuse to negotiate with the devil, help me to wait on you and resist the devil. John 9:25-34

The Promise

Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? 25 But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. 26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.