Episode Summary Mark 10:52 “And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.” This episode is about Bartimaeus and how his faith in God cured his blindness. It talks about how we are all being called to have this kind of faith and how you could increase your faith. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Can Your Faith Heal You?
Mark 10:52 “And Jesus said to him, 'Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.”
How many of us have the faith of this man that Jesus healed? He was sitting on the side of the road, and when he heard Jesus was passing by, he called out to him. The crowd of people told him to be silent, but he kept calling out. How many of us listen when others tell us to be silent? Or worse yet, we don’t feel like we are worthy to speak up in the first place, or we are too nervous to speak out and ask for help for fear of rejection. Bartimaeus did not listen when others told him to be quiet. He kept calling out. He believed that Jesus could heal him, and he was not going to let the chance pass him by. Once Jesus heard him calling out, Jesus told him to call him over. When the crowd told him that Jesus would see him, the bible says, “He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.” How great is that? How many of us are jumping up at Jesus’ call? I know it’s different. Jesus was right there, and he got to see him and talk to him. But we can also talk to Jesus anytime we want to. Even though we cannot see him, he is calling us to him. He wants to invite us into a deeper relationship with him. Do we hear this call? Do we jump up, throw our cloak aside, and run to him when we are called?
I love the faith that Bartimaeus had. He knew Jesus could heal him. He did not seem to have any doubt that Jesus could cure his blindness. He also didn’t seem to doubt that Jesus would want to help him or to question whether he was worthy enough. He saw Jesus walking by and called out to him. Do we do this? Jesus is here for us; he wants us to call out and rely on Him. Are we doing that? It seems each week at my Prayer Group, God is showing up for us, and he is telling us to come closer. He keeps telling us to rely on him, that he is our protection and our refuge. Why are we not calling on him more than? When Jesus healed Bartimaeus, He said, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” How great would it be to hear those words from Jesus?
One scripture verse that I think is amazing and that I struggle with is Mark 11:22. This verse is Jesus’ reply to the cursed fig tree. Jesus said to them in reply, “Have faith in God. Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him.” This is the type of faith that I strive for, and yet sometimes wonder if it’s possible. I wonder if there are humans who can have this type of faith? I know that God can do anything. I truly believe this. And yet, when I think of myself commanding a mountain to be lifted up and thrown into he see, I can’t seem to wrap my head around that. I have searched for this type up faith for a very long time now. Probably since the first time I actually heard this scripture and let it sink in.
The very next verse is Mark 11:23, “Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.” This again just blows me away. All that you ask for shall be yours if you believe. That seems like a lot of pressure, and at the same time, a huge promise on God’s part. As I said above, ever since hearing scripture like this, I have searched for this type of faith. I would love to believe without a shadow of a doubt that God can do all the things that I ask him to do, that he will answer all of my prayers. I find it a struggle to believe as much as I would like to, and I wonder if this is because I have a human brain and we were trained from an early age not to believe in things that we can’t see or prove. We were mostly taught that there are certain things that can be done and things that can’t be done. I think as humanity grows, we are learning to question that more and more. But it takes time to overcome years of that type of thinking.
I thought I would give you one way that I have been able to deepen my trust and faith that God can do all he says he can do. I read books about all the miracles God has done and continues to do. I love to read books about healing. God is so amazing and he is performing miracles every single day, and if we would just be on the lookout for them, we would see them. If we can’t see them in our lives, we can read about them in others’ lives. Harold Hill’s book, “How to Live Like a King’s Kid,” is an excellent example. If you read all the amazing things that God did in his life, you can’t help but start to believe he will do it for you as well. Harold Hill also talks about his faith journey and how he got to a point where he began to see God do amazing things in his life.
Also, reading any books on healing, Francis McNutt, Randy Clark, Mary Healy, Matthew & Dennis Linn are just a few that I have read that have been really good. When you read about God’s healing of others and how there are people out there today who are calling upon God to heal people every day, then it strengthens your faith that he will answer your prayers as well. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” We all know that Jesus was performing miracles when he was alive and walking the earth. He raised people from the dead, he cured so many illnesses, he turned water into wine, he did all the things. This verse from Hebrews lets us know that these miracles were not just something he did in the past. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” He is still doing these miracles today, and if we struggle to believe this, then we need to search out the testimony of it because it is out there. Another thing I pray often is Mark 9:24: “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.”
Dear heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask that you increase our trust in you. Lord, we believe, help our unbelief. Lord, we need you to show us the way. We would like nothing more than to have the faith to move mountains, and we know that you are the only one who can give us that faith. So we're asking you, Lord, we are asking for the faith to move mountains. Lord, give us the courage to ask when we need healing or when someone else needs healing. Help us to turn to you first and ask you to heal them. Lord, we give you permission to use us as your instruments of healing, as you used countless people before us. Jesus, you are the great physician, and we ask that you continue that work through us. There are too many people dying in the world today. Let us help you help them. Let us be your hands of healing Lord Jesus. We love you and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.