Skip to main content

How to Help Someone Find Hope and Healing, Part 1

By



Daily Hope Devotional Friday 19th August 2016

“Therefore [Jesus] is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” 
- Hebrews 7:25 NIV

I believe that small groups are a vital part of helping so-called hopeless people find healing. One of the parts I like best about being in a small group is that you can pray for one another’s “hopeless” cases. We can lean upon the faith of others when we start to doubt.

In Luke 5, there’s a great story of a small group of men who took a friend who was paralyzed and in need of healing to the feet of Jesus. In this account, we find seven characteristics of a small group that God uses to heal. Today we’re going to look at three of those characteristics, and tomorrow we’ll look at the rest.

Compassion: This man was healed because his friends cared. It all starts with us caring about people who are hurting. Romans 15:2 says, “We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord” (NLT, second edition). God used these guys because they were sensitive to a friend’s need. And he’ll use us when we aren’t preoccupied with our own needs and start caring more about others than we do ourselves.

Faith: The men believed God would heal their friend. Take a look at Luke 5:20: “When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven’” (NIV). It wasn’t the paralytic’s faith that made him well; it was the faith of his friends. How many people do you know who are so paralyzed they can’t believe in God? That’s when we have to believe for them.

Intervention: These friends didn’t just pray for their friend; they took action as well. It’s not enough just to pray for someone who is hurting and caught in sin. We have to take action. Jesus says in Luke 14:23, “Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.” There is a slew of examples in the Bible of people taking others to Jesus.

Talk It Over

  • What does hopelessness look like?
  • Do you believe that no one is outside Jesus’ reach? If so, what are you willing to do about bringing “hopeless” people to Jesus?
  • What hurting friend have you been praying for? What can you do to take action and help that person heal?

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

You've been blessed through this reading share with Others. Share the DO's and the DON'T.

Popular posts from this blog

Dominion Mandate Daily Devotional February 26, 2016

By
THEME: RETREAT TO REFRESH READ: Matt. 11:25-30 When some musicians want to release great songs, they retreat to secluded places where they can reflect, meditate and create. Some choose places overlooking the vast oceans, some choose where there are waterfalls, and some choose places with thick forestations.  As they observe the beauty of nature, the swift moves and songs of the soaring birds, the colourful flowering vegetations, the serene beaches and the unending waves of the nearby waters, they capture inspiration that helps them develop the hit songs they have been longing for. I met one of the world’s renowned musicians in Atlanta, USA a few years ago where journalist surrounded him and were asking what he had come to do and why his beards had grown so much. He said that his last album did not perform well enough and he was incubating another one he wanted to release that would perform better. He said that he needed to pull away from the Noise of New York and California ...
Post a Comment
Read more

A NEW MONTH OF DIVINE ANNOUNCEMENT

By
But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. Luke 1:13 The Bible is replete of records on how God announced some events before they finally happened. Because you made it into the new Month, God will specially announce you in Jesus name.  Whenever God want to do something unusual, He first of all announce it, for instance, when He wanted to delivered the children of Israelite from the hand of the philistine whom He has delivered them to, He sent an angel to break the new to the parent of the deliverer - Samson. Judges 13.  When God wanted to turn the hearts of men back to Himself, He sent angel Gabriel to announced the birth of John the Baptist to his father, Zacharias. Also when God was fully ready for the redemption of man, He first announced it to the one whose body His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ will pass through to the earth. Luke 1:26-38. That was the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Marriage Booster: Do You Still Love Her/Him ?

By
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; Ephesians 5:25 KJV "This is what I love about you" In the beginning you love everything about him. You are captivated by his six pack, his spirit of adventure, and his lion’s heart. In the beginning you love everything about her. You go crazy with the swing of her hips, a wink or a chewy chocolate cake baked especially for you. One day you wake up. Daily routine has shattered your rose-tinted glasses. “His six pack is not so hot anymore, instead his joints creak with every move.” Or: “It would be better if she swung her hips into a gym one of these days.” You realize: “My partner has changed.” Fortunately! He isn’t standing still. The problem is not the change but rather, that you are a creature of habit. It is your task to rediscover your partner and to simultaneously not forget why you went up the aisle with sparkling eyes to marry your bride/groom. MARRIAGE BOOSTER Write d...
2 comments
Read more