Today is healing and wholeness Sunday, a day we specifically set apart to pray that God will work and move in our lives and the lives of those we care about.
At the end of the service there will be an opportunity for prayer for you or for someone you know that God will move in a miraculous way.
Our series this year has been on dynamic disciples and dynamic discipleship and this month we have been thinking about what it means to have a discipleship lifestyle and today we are going to be thinking specifically about faith.
Having Faith is an essential part of being a follower of Jesus today I want us to spend a few moments thinking about how our faith in Jesus Heals us and Saves us.
Listen to these words from Proverbs 4:20-22 and Jeremiah 17:14.
My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. Proverbs 4:20-22
O Lord, if you heal me, I will be truly healed; if you save me, I will be truly saved. My praises are for you alone! Jeremiah 17:14 NLT
Healed and Saved by Faith. That is our focus on this morning. But as always a few questions to begin!
Is everything always on the same level in your life?
Do you experience good days and bad?
Are there days when you stand strong and others when you feel weak?
Are there days when you feel like your on top of the mountain and others when you are in the deep depths of a valleys?
If we are honest I think all of us would admit that life is not always easy. There are days when we trust God with all of our heart and soul and mind and others when it feels like our faith is smaller than a mustard seed.
Perhaps right now you are going through a specific situation, you’ve prayed about it, you’ve asked others to pray about it, but from what you see and what you know God just does not seem to be doing anything about it.
Often, even though we know we should trust in the faithfulness of God, His mercy and His grace, it can be difficult to wait can’t it? Have you asked the same question that the prophet Habakkuk asked so long ago “How long, O Lord, must I call for help?” 1:2
You know the Bible tells us to trust, to have faith, to trust the purpose and plan of God, but we are human, we can be a impatient, we want an instant answer, but God says wait in fact God’s answer to Habakkuk was “If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place.” Hab 2:4
We need to have the faith to wait, to trust that God will answer in the right way at the right time.
When we pray that God will move, that God will act, that God will heal, just because we don’t see instant results it does not mean that God is not at work.
From both the Bible and our own experience we know that God is faithful. If our faith is wavering, the Word of God should be where we turn to remind us of His faithfulness to us His children.
The Word of God can both strengthen our faith and increase our trust. As we read the promises of God, His Word is sweeter than honey it satisfies our soul.
We need the Word of God to fill our heart, to penetrate our heart and our mind, to build and strengthen our faith in the God who loves us, saves us and heals us.
Jeremiah was a prophet, a man of God, a leader of the people and here in Jeremiah 17:14 he is praying for God’s healing and saving mercy in his own life.
Jeremiah has taken the time to pray to God for himself. What does that tell us? It tells us that this prophet is no different from you or me. Every person, prophet, pastor, disciple, adult, teen, child or senior needs to pray in faith.
All of us need to have faith that God can move, that God can act, that God can change the situation, that He can save, that He can Heal today.
O Lord, if you heal me, I will be truly healed; if you save me, I will be truly saved. My praises are for you alone!
Do you have faith that God can heal you?Heal your family? Heal that situation or circumstance in the life of your friend?
Are you truly saved this morning? Have you experienced the joy and peace that comes when you repent of your sins and ask Jesus to save you? Have you by faith fully placed your trust in Jesus as Lord and Saviour of your life?
Do you praise God for what He has already done in your life? What He is doing? What He is yet to do?
Do you believe in the power of God just as Jeremiah did?
O Lord, if you heal me, I will be truly healed... Is that the prayer of faith from your heart this morning?
Lord, in your mercy, in your grace, in your love, heal me. Lord, bring me through this situation, Lord, bring release, bring wholeness, bring restoration, bring healing.
Lord, if you move, if you act, if you answer, then... Then change will come, then transformation will occur, the situation will be different, the circumstance will change,
there will be wholeness, there will be healing, you will reveal your faithfulness.
The Gospel accounts of both Mark and Luke tell us that Jesus referred to Himself as a “physician” or “doctor”.Once in the sense of “spiritual healer” and once in the sense of “physical healer.”
In Mark chapter 2 we see Jesus as Spiritual Healer:
When the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees were angry that Jesus had tax collectors and “sinners” among his disciples. Jesus told them “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
In Luke 4 we see Jesus as Physical Healer:
When Jesus gave His first sermon in His hometown synagogue of Nazareth, He read these words from Isaiah 61:1-2: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favour has come.”
Some in the crowd that were gathered did not understand who Jesus was, they asked “How can this be? Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” So Jesus responded and said “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’
But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown. (Luke 4:23)
Our God is a miracle working God, spiritually, physically, emotionally Jesus is our great physician, our great healer.
O Lord, if you heal me, I will be truly healed... Jesus is Lord and He is also physician and healer.
If you read through the Gospels, you will read the many accounts of healing that took place. Jesus encountered people who were sick, blind, lame, deaf, leprous, possessed, paralyzed or mentally ill. Jesus healed them. Even the dead were raised by the power of His word.
Jesus healed by divine power. Jesus healed all who were brought to Him. Jesus healing power goes beyond curing broken bones and ailing bodies.
He is able to touch every level of our existence - physical, emotional, social, spiritual.
Jesus had and still has compassion for those who are suffering.
In Mark Chapter 1:40-42 a man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said.
Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed.
In compassion Jesus reached out and touched him... An action that meant ritual impurity in Jewish Law. The leper who had been forced into isolation,
away from human contact because of social custom receives a touch from our Lord.
A touch that says I care.
A touch that says you are not alone.
Then the words come from Jesus lips,
“I am willing. Be healed”
If you are willing, you can heal me...
In faith, hear the response of Jesus to this prayer...
“I am willing. Be healed”
Over and over again, Jesus deliberately touched those who were sick or disabled. Jesus encouraged the active involvement of the sick in their own healing, faith was a necessary ingredient. Faith in God, trusting in God’s healing power.
Over and over, Jesus commended those He healed for their faith. Think about the woman who had been bleeding for years, in faith she touched the hem of Jesus robe, and she was healed. Mark 5:34 Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”
O Lord, if you heal me, I will be truly healed; if you save me, I will be truly saved...
Jesus is Healer and Saviour. In Luke chapter 7:18-23, John the Baptist is in prison. And the disciples of John the Baptist told John about everything Jesus was doing. So John called for two of his disciples, and he sent them to the Lord to ask him, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”
John’s two disciples found Jesus and said to Him, “John the Baptist sent us to ask, ‘Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?’”
At that very time, Jesus cured many people of their diseases, illnesses, and evil spirits, and He restored sight to many who were blind.
Then Jesus told John’s disciples, “Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard — the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.”
The Good News is that Jesus is the promised Messiah, Jesus willingly left the glory of Heaven to come on a rescue mission to save us.
Jesus came because of His love for us. Jesus came to restore our relationship with God the Father. Jesus was incarnated into this world to do more than teach us and tell us how we should live - He came to die on the cross so that by the shedding of His own blood we could be forgiven.
The perfect one died for the imperfect, for us. The shedding of His blood washed away our sins.
Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was sufficient to pay the price for the sins of everyone who repents and trusts in Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
When Jesus rose from the grave, He conquered death, He conquered hell, He conquered the grave. Then He ascended into Heaven and He has gone to prepare a place for those who believe and trust in Him as Saviour.
O Lord, if you heal me, I will be truly healed; if you save me, I will be truly saved...
If you have repented, if you have turned away from your sins, if you have asked God to forgive you and accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour then you are truly saved.
Faith in His love, His mercy, His grace has saved you. Jesus has set you free from the burden of your sin. By trusting in Jesus and Him alone you are assured of a place in Heaven.
Listen to the words of Isaiah 53:4-5
Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed.
Jesus was wounded for you.
He suffered for you.
His body was broken for you.
His blood was shed for you.
He carried the penalty for your sin.
He died for you.
He was the ultimate perfect sacrifice.
He paid the price for your salvation and your healing.
Because you trust in Jesus you are forgiven.
Because you trust in Jesus you are reconciled to Father God.
His willing sacrifice has saved you.
Listen to the words of the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 2:24 - “Jesus personally carried our sins in His body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By His wounds you are healed.”
O Lord, if you heal me, I will be truly healed; if you save me, I will be truly saved. My praises are for you alone!
As we come to our time of prayer will you make these words your own?
If this is your prayer this morning?
Place your faith and trust in Jesus and Jesus alone to heal and to save.
And praise Him, for what He has done, what He is doing and what He will continue to do till He returns.
Thanks and praise be to our God - in His love, mercy and grace He still heals and saves.
Blessed be His Name.
Amen
