Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray.
Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.
Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well, the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
No I didn’t make that up … James 5: 13 – 16
And speaking of healing … cruise through the gospels and see how many people Jesus healed … when they asked Him … when they touched Him… when they cried out to Him … when their friends brought them to Him … when someone came and asked on behalf of another … 100% of those who came to Jesus were healed.
How about any one out there have an enemy?
Proverbs 25:21 – If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
Luke 6: 27 and 28 – But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
Yes but … They have done something really really bad
Romans 12:19 – Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is Mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
And when that happens …
Proverbs 24:17 – Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles do not let your heart rejoice, or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn His wrath away from him.
Any money problems among us?
Give and it will be given to you … Luke 6:38
Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 2 Corinthians 10:6
One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
Proverbs 11: 24 and 25.
As anyone who knows me well can testify to … I am not a fan of teaching or learning from single verses. But I only have a short space here to make a difference so this is an effort to share a bite size little snack today. It’s up to each of us to take in His Word … in full, nourishing portions to build muscles of faith and receive healed hearts.
The point is … there is a different way of finding solutions to life’s problems. Ecclesiastes tells us there is nothing new under the sun – so whatever trial we may be experiencing today – God understands and has a solution for … but it probably looks nothing like the solution the world would give us.
Jesus didn’t raise His hands and heal everyone in the crowd, but rather paid attention to each person and their need. Everybody got their own piece of fish and bread. Jesus dealt with the individual … and still does.
When they left His presence, each one had exactly what they needed to be healed, fed, convicted and converted … we still do.
We can’t leave sickness, evil people, troubles, poverty, greed … all the “stuff” in the world outside our experience. But we have some very powerful, simple solutions that we can embrace along the way:
Prayer … singing … kindness … mercy … generosity … and that single marvelous spot next to Jesus designed just for us.