Thursday, May 17, 2012

Get A Rope!

Today one of my sweet sisters shared her Morning Reflection (click here to see what Morning Reflections are) with our group and it really touched me.  I want to share part of it with you today.

One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick.Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus.  When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”   The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”  Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?  Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?  But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”  Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.  Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God.They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”  Luke 5:17-26

As my friend pointed out in her reflection this morning, these men knew that Jesus could heal their friend.  They tried to reach Jesus but couldn't get to Him through the crowds.  They were desperate to get to Him.  They were so bold as to actually climb a roof, cut a hole in in and lower their friend right down in front of Jesus because of their great faith in Him.

Have you been praying for a friend or family member for awhile?  Praying for salvation or healing?  Does it seem like your prayers just stop at the ceiling?  Like you can't reach Jesus?  Get a rope!  My friend said she had her prayer rope and was praying.  She wasn't going to give up.

When it seems like you have prayed and prayed and nothing is happening and you want to give up, don't!  Just keep praying.  There is a little saying that goes like this:  P.U.S.H.  It means pray until something happens.  There are times and circumstances when we may need to walk away from someone for a season, but we still need to lift them in prayer.  There may be times when we are hurt by someone, we still need to lift them in prayer.

So let me ask you, do you have your rope?  Are you ready to lower your loved one to Jesus?  Are you ready to have the faith that it takes?  Are you ready to pray?

Sweet Blessings~
Linking with:

5 comments:

  1. More than anything I want to be DESPERATE for God! The same desperation these dear friends were for their friend is the kind of desperation I want! I understand more now than I did a year and a half ago, that even when things seem to go haywire, God is in the midst of them.

    I love the 'Get a Rope' analogy! I think I'm just gonna get a rope and carry it around with me!

    Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Such a great reminder for the power of prayer. I needed to hear that. Never stop praying, never stop talking to our heavenly father :) Amen!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a great reminder and acronym in PUSH...I linked up behind you at Thought Provoking Thursday...funny, I posted on prayer also...nice to meet you, Jenifer :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jenifer, I love this reflection. These men showed an extraordinary amount of faith. As you said, they knew Jesus could heal their friend.

    I think many of us (and I raise my hand foremost) need to get that prayer rope and hang on.

    Blessings,
    Joan

    ReplyDelete
  5. Have been desperate for God all this week! Your post meant a lot to me with some things that have happened recently, and sort of goes with my post yesterday. God bless you sis!

    Encouraging Thoughts for Life

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for stopping by and leaving your thoughts, I love hearing from you.