PILGRIMS RESTING IN CHRIST

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FAITH FEEDING FOUNDATION

WHEN OUR PRAYERS CAN GET THERE FASTER THAN OUR BODIES

John 4:46-53 - So Jesus came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 47When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”49The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 51As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour^d the fever left him.” 53The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household.

We live in a world where many people demand instant results. Because of this, there is often a great demand placed on people who serve other people. Even when it comes to seeking to be delivered from marital problems, raising children, and being cured of sickness and disease, more people expect instant results. But there are still times when we just won’t get what we want when we want it.

Isaiah 40:31 tells us that they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

In other words, according to James 1:2, God’s people should consider it pure joy, whenever we face trials of many kinds, 3because we know that the testing of our faith develops perseverance or patience. 4Perseverance or patience must finish its work so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

But God’s people do not always want to wait on God. In fact, some of the people closest to Christ when he walked this earth in human flesh were not patient with him.

John 11:1-44 tells us of two sisters (Mary and Martha) and how upset they became with Jesus because they made a request for Jesus to come to their village in Bethany to keep their brother Lazarus alive. This was the same Mary who had anointed the feet of Jesus, who brother was a very close friend of Jesus. But when Jesus heard that Lazarus was very sick, he told his 12 disciples that “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus, but Jesus put obedience to His Father before everything else. We should learn this lesson, but it is hard for some of us to learn it. When we think that every time something bad happens to us, everyone is supposes to drop what they are doing and run to help us fix it, we are guilty of being unrealistic and selfish. The only one who can help you every time you get in trouble is already there with you. His name is GOD. He promised never to leave you alone.

But some people become addicted to wanting the pastor or the doctor or the lawyer to drop what God has told them to do in order to rush over to fix their problem. And this is not realistic.

Jesus loved Mary, Martha and Lazarus; but God willed that stay two days longer in the place where he was, then go up to Judea again, which meant that Jesus knew that Lazarus would be pronounced dead before he arrived in Bethany. But when Jesus arrived after Lazarus had been in his grave 4 days, and after Mary and Martha rebuked him for not coming as soon as they called him, and after Jesus wept due to their lack of faith in him as their resurrection, and after Jesus called Lazarus forth from his grave; then Jesus got a pat on the back and a you’re not so bad after all compliment so to speak.

And it should not be like that, but it is. There are more so called Christians than you think who have left ministries, cussed out pastors and ridiculed deacons because when these so-called Christians wanted these pastors and deacons, they were doing God’s will somewhere else.

I have come to realize that I am not God. I cannot turn the grayest sky blue; I can’t make it rain whenever I want it do, I cannot build a castle from a single grain of sand.
And I cannot make a ship sail, uh, on dry land. But I know who can.

And I am persuaded to believe when someone that needs me is in trouble, that my prayers can get to and help them faster than my body can.

Remember, John 4: When the man whose son was sick heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to Jesus and asked him to come down and heal his son, for his son was at the point of death. This man knew that Jesus had the power to heal, but this man did not realize that all Jesus had to do was speak healing and healing would take place. Jesus did not have to go where the sick boy was any more than Jesus had to go to Bethany where Lazarus was dying. For Jesus only did what His heavenly Father told him to do. And people have a problem with that. If God the Father told Jesus to go where the sick people was, Jesus would go there; but if the heavenly Father told Jesus to just speak or pray for someone who was a long distance from where Jesus was, Jesus would do that.

When Jesus told the father in John 4:50 to go home because his sick son was healed,” the Holy Bible says that the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. He did not ask Jesus to accompany him for good luck. And vs. 51 declares that as this father was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52So this father asked them the hour when his son began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the 7th hour the fever left him.” 53The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household.

We must understand that God is supernatural and when we pray supernatural prayers, no matter where we are, those supernatural prayers can do more than our bodies could if we were present. That’s why Jesus told Thomas, “you had to see me to believe, but blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”