In many ways today is no different from any other day and perhaps that is where the problem is...
Our Sundays can feel so routine - our expectation is the same - being church together is something we can do on autopilot.
We know God is the same yesterday, today and forever - but we specifically set aside the fifth Sunday of the month as a Healing and Wholeness Sunday so that we can be reminded that God is still God and He is able to perform miracles today.
Whatever our circumstances, situations or problems are today, we can trust our Heavenly Father to care, to bless, to move, to act, to deliver, and to heal today.
God can bring healing and wholeness to your life today.
God can change your circumstances today.
God can work a miracle in your life today.
God is able to do more in your life and mine than we can hope or think or imagine.
Do you have faith that God can do the impossible in your life today?
Maybe you want to believe that the impossible could be possible in your circumstance or situation,
but if you are honest, you doubt if things will ever really change.
A man called William Jett wrote these words:
Doubt sees the obstacles
Faith sees the way,
Doubt sees the blackest night
Faith sees the day;
Doubt dreads to take a step
Faith soars on high;
Doubt questions, “Who believes?”
Faith answers, “I”
This morning, on this Healing and Wholeness Sunday, I want to encourage you to dispel your doubts and focus your faith on what God is able to do in your life.
There are many things we can not do in our own strength or our own ability remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 19:26 “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”
The things which are impossible for us in our own abilities are possible with God.
Where we cannot, God can, He can do the impossible.
When we pray according to God’s will all things are possible.
Perhaps our problem when we pray is we often put limits on what God can do.
Often we can think our problem or circumstance or situation is beyond the scope of God’s ability.
If we think that our problems are bigger than God is able or willing to handle, then we show a lack of faith in the God who loves us and cares for us.
Consider these words from Ephesians chapter 3: Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21 NKJV)
God is able to accomplish infinitely more or do exceeding abundantly more than we can ask or think.
Matthew Henry commenting on this truth wrote: “There is an inexhaustible fullness of grace and mercy in God, which the prayers of all the saints can never draw dry. Whatever we may ask, or think to ask, still God is still able to do more, abundantly more, exceedingly abundantly more. Open your mouth ever so wide, still he has the wherewithal to fill it.”
Today, God is able to do infinitely more in your life and mine than we can hope or think or imagine.
I have some simple advice for us this morning:
We need to Dispel our doubts and focus our faith on what God is able to do.
God is able to do the impossible.
When we trust God, when we allow Him to move, when we ask Him to work in our lives, when we allow the Holy Spirit to minister to us, when we allow God to do what only He can do, then we will experience His touch on our lives,
we will experience life-changing transformation, we will experience miracles.
God can just speak a Word, move by the Power of His Word and His Spirit, and our lives can be transformed.
Our God is the same God that spoke this universe into existence.
Our God is the God that hung the stars in space.
Our God is the God that formed you in your mothers womb.
Our God is the God that knows you better than you know yourself.
Our God is the God who loves you and cares for you and has promised never to leave or forsake you.
Our God is the God of miracles and He can heal today.
Whatever situation, circumstance, trial, problem, illness, relationship issue, or problem you have, or another member of your family has, or a friend has, God can make a difference today.
He can heal and restore – He can make the broken whole, the sick well, God can heal today.
God can bring healing and wholeness into your life today.
Because of our faith in Jesus as Lord and Saviour, we know that we have already been forgiven.
When we repented from our sin and came to Christ, we were restored to a real relationship with God the Father.
Because of the sacrifice of Christ, we are redeemed, we are saved, we are set-free from the burden of our sins, we are born-again.
Now we are children of the Living God, He cares for us, He blesses us, His love for us is continual and eternal.
His mercy, His grace, His blessings are poured out upon us each and every day.
Being a Christian does not mean life is always easy, it does not mean we will never experience problems or pain. But we have the promise that God is with us, He will never leave us or forsake us. We do not face our troubles and trials alone.
Our faith is rooted and grounded in Jesus our Lord and Saviour.
Jesus is your bread when you are hungry.
Jesus is your Comfort when you are lonely.
Jesus is your Peace when you are feeling tense.
Jesus is your Rest when you are feeling weary.
Jesus is your Joy when you are feeling sad.
Jesus is your Strength when you are weak.
Jesus is your Living Water when you are thirsty.
Jesus is your Wisdom when you are confused.
Jesus is your Protection when you are endangered.
Jesus is your Supply when you are empty.
Jesus is the Living Word that God sent into the world.
Dispel your doubts and have faith to move beyond how the circumstances and situations make you feel.
Dispel your doubts and have faith to believe Jesus is able to bring healing and wholeness to your life.
Dispel your doubts and have faith to believe God can work in your circumstances and situations.
Dispel your doubts and have faith to believe God can work in your trials and tribulations.
Dispel your doubts and have faith to believe God can bring victory and blessing.
God can work in you by the Power of His Spirit.
God can work in you by the Power of His Word.
1 Corinthians 15:57 says “Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
There is no problem that God cannot solve.
There is no mess that God cannot turn into a miracle.
There is no chain that God cannot break.
There is no burden that God cannot lift.
There is no storm that God cannot calm.
There is no sorrow that God cannot comfort.
There is no hurt that God cannot mend.
There is no sin that God cannot forgive in Christ.
There is no thirst that God cannot quench.
There is no hunger that God cannot satisfy.
As disciples of Jesus we need to dispel our doubts and focus our faith on what God is able to do in us and through us.
We need to trust God more, instead of thinking God might answer prayer we need to be confident that God always answers prayer!
We have a simple choice to make, we can pray, believe and receive or we can pray, doubt and go without!
In Acts 4:23-31 there is a wonderful account of a church that chose to pray, believe and receive.
When they prayed the building shook.
When they prayed they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.
When they prayed they spoke the word of God with boldness.
When they prayed they were united in heart and mind.
When they prayed God moved in power.
God’s power is released in and through a praying church.
There is power in the name of Jesus, power to break every physical, spiritual or emotional chain.
We need to pray in faith, trusting God, obedient to His plans, His precepts, His will.
Smith Wigglesworth said, “I can get more out of God by believing Him for one minute, than I can by shouting at Him all night”.
Trust in the Lord, lean not on your own strength or your own understanding.
Dispel your doubts and have faith to believe God will answer prayer in the right way at the perfect time.
One thing God keeps teaching me through prayer is patience. His timing is perfect in every situation.
God will act at the right time and He is willing to do far more than we ever ask, or think, or imagine.
What is going on in your life right now that needs a touch from the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?
Your health?
Your relationships?
Your family?
Your work?
Your finances?
Your prayer life?
Your faith?
Your daily walk?
Your witness for our Lord?
Don’t try and carry it on your own, don’t let it draw your attention away from God.
Dispel your doubts and focus your faith, God is able to do the impossible.
Joseph Scriven wrote some very appropriate words in his hymn ‘What a Friend we have in Jesus’:
What a Friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry, Everything to God in prayer!
Whatever the situation, whatever the circumstances, bring it to the Lord in prayer this morning.
Hear the words Jesus spoke to Jairus in Mark 5:36, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”
Dispel your doubts, Don’t be afraid.
Just have faith, pray and ask God to speak, ask God to act, ask God to move, ask God to bless.
Pray in faith and expect God to move because God is able to do the impossible.
God is almighty, God is incredible, God’s mighty power works miracles in this world every single day.
God’s love and mercy is poured out into our lives every day; we are His children; our salvation is secure and certain in Jesus Christ; we are empowered by the Holy Spirit; God listens when we come to Him in prayer, God answers prayer.
God can exceed our expectation in every area of our everyday lives.
As we come to our time of prayer a final reminder to all of us, the verse we began with Ephesians 3:20-21 from The Message paraphrase:
God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, His Spirit deeply and gently within us.
Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!
(Ephesians 3:20-21 The Message)
Dispel your doubts and focus your faith, God is able to do the impossible.
