Psalm 103:1-5
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5
who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
One of the areas we are interceding for during the fast is for God to heal. In Exodus 15:26, God calls himself Jehovah Rapha, which means the Lord who heals. Through the many miracles of Jesus, God reveals things about himself as healer. One of the stories I love is where Jesus heals the paralytic in Mark 2. Here’s how the story starts:
“3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.””
There are some important things we learn about God as our healer from this brief interaction. The first thing we see is the tenacity and faith of the friends. They know Jesus has the power to heal and they are willing to do whatever it takes to get their friend a face to face meeting with him. It is their faith that captures Jesus’ attention. I imagine these friends have helped care for the paralytic. I imagine they love their friend and as desperate as they are to see their him healed it would be a tremendous relief for them as caregivers.
Many of us have great needs for God to bring healing to those we love. What the account of the paralytic communicates is your prayers of intercession matter. Your faith makes a difference. Your invitation to bring people to Jesus could be the very catalyst they need to experience God’s healing touch. May this fast be a time of deep intercession where we bring both those we know and those we have yet to meet that need a healing touch before the Lord. May we pray with the tenacity of the friends of the paralytic. This is an invitation to ask the Lord to increase in our faith to be like the friends who lowered the paralytic through the roof believing Jesus would heal their friend.
Something that really bothered the Pharisees in this story was how Jesus handled the healing of the paralytic. He didn’t speak to his legs and tell his muscles to work or tell his spinal cord to be healed. He told the man his sins were forgiven. While the religious leaders were furious with Jesus claiming to have the authority to forgive sins, there is something for us to take note of: healing and forgiveness of sins can go hand in hand. This is not to say we accuse those who are sick of living sinful lives. What it does show us is God’s idea of what it looks like to heal and ours may not be the same. The need for healing comes in so many forms: sickness, trauma, emotional hurt, deliverance, addiction, broken relationships, mental health, etc… Healing can be physical or spiritual or both. God knows the root and he is the solution. We anchor our faith and our hope in trusting God and knowing he is capable of healing it all. He is the God who heals and he knows what each individual needs. May we pray for discernment and God’s strategies as we ask for him to move mightily on behalf of those who need healing in any form. Let us rejoice in the Lord who Heals.
Listening Prayer:
Ask the Holy Spirit if there is anyone specific he wants you to pray for during the fast that needs a healing touch from the Lord. Ask if there are any specific ways he wants you to pray for that person or people he brings to mind. Pray as the Holy Spirit directs.
Prayer:
God we thank you that one of your names is healer. Thank you that there is nothing you cannot heal. Help us grow in our faith to see people healed and set free from things that hold them captive whether it is physical or emotional. We ask for a fresh revelation into you as the God who heals. We pray for an increase of your healing power to be at work on behalf of the people we encounter who need what only you can give. May we have the faith of the friends of the paralytic to intercede for those who are in need. Bring people to mind, both known and unknown that you want me to pray for. I come into agreement with your plans for their lives and your strategies for healing. Lord, we are eager to see your healing hand at work. In Jesus name, Amen.
Resources: Bible Verses of the God who Heals:
Exodus 15:26
“If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.”
1Peter 2:24
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.“