This amazed everyone and they praised God. (Mark 2:12)
My great grandmother-in-law, Amalia, was an atheist. She had been diagnosed with tuberculosis, and the doctors said she would gradually decline and die from it within a matter of months. One day, a family member invited Amalia to a revival meeting. She agreed to go and heard the speaker talk about God’s love for her. Quietly, she said, “God, if this is true, then heal me, and I will serve you for the rest of my life.” Immediately, she felt electricity running through her body, and she was healed. She went home and instead of declining, she came to a full recovery. True to her word, she devoted her life to God. That spiritual legacy passed through the generations to my wife, who loves Jesus with all her heart.
Throughout the New Testament, Jesus and his disciples combined the message of God’s love with miraculous displays of God’s love. The miracle and the message were a dynamic duo. These days, it seems like many of us are so afraid of “not getting a miracle” that we are too afraid to pray for it. We often underemphasize the authority that Jesus gave to his followers to do the same work that he did. I believe, and I have seen this to include the powerful combination of the miracle and the message.
The next time you pray for a sick person, pray with authority.
Jarod Osborne is lead pastor of Pathway [Wesleyan] Church, in Warsaw, Indiana. He is the author of Jaded Faith (WPH).
© 2020 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
