Some men came carrying a paralytic 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.” ...... Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins....” He said to the paralysed 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.
Luke 5:18 – 25
Prayer Points
Think about what you can do today that shows you believe what you are praying for, are convinced of ... what you hope for but do not yet see?
Pray for a person you know who has been ‘turned off’ by the inconsistencies
of Christians’ actions or behaviour.
Pray for your church to be a place where faith is real: demonstrated by obedience and love in action.
Pray for God to do miracles.
DAY 19 : ACTING
‘I will show you my faith by what I do.’ James had become frustrated with what was going on in some churches. So in radical mood he wrote these words (James 2:18). He was correcting attitudes that said that we don’t need to do anything if we are Christians; we don’t need to help those in need; we don’t need to change our behaviour.
His point was that genuine faith is demonstrated in actions: godly living, care for the poor and consistent behaviour. So for us if we have faith in God then it will determine how we act.
There is another dimension to this. In the Gospels people were told that their faith had healed them. They came to Jesus in various ways but left having had their needs met. Jesus commended them for their faith. How was their faith demonstrated? They showed it by disturbing the peace (Luke 18:35-43), breaking into a house (Luke 5:17-26), nagging (Luke 18:1-8), giving a smart answer (Mark 7:24-30), and grabbing clothes (Mark 5:25-34)! In each case a person had a powerful encounter with Jesus because their faith was demonstrated in their actions. Faith does not lead to passivity. It leads to action.
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (Heb 11:1) So we need to demonstrate it. There are actions to take consistent with our convictions. There is behaviour to exhibit that shows the reality of our faith in Christ. The absence of action shows we may not have faith. So let us have faith and act.
Pray
* Pray for your ‘big issue’
* Pray for your ‘three friends’
* Pray for a new wave of revival.