Bring them to the Lord
Today’s reading gives us a beautiful picture of intercessory prayer. The man Jesus healed could not cry out to him for help. He could not hear when Jesus was to pass by. However, his friends could, and did. All we are told is that they brought the deaf man who could not speak to Jesus. We don’t know who they are, but they obviously cared about this man. They cared enough about him to take him to the one who could heal him.
Why is it that when we don’t know how to help, we offer to pray? Prayer is not something that we passively do. At least, it shouldn’t be. Intercessory prayer brings our loved ones to God. Like the ones who carried their friend and took the roof off the house to bring him to Jesus, we are presenting our friends to the Lord. Bringing each other to God isn’t a last ditch effort. It shouldn’t be a back-up plan if all other avenues of relief have been exhausted. God is the one who can give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, clear speech to those whose tongues are tied.
It is important for us to remember that God doesn’t always answer our prayers in the manner we might expect. He often does it in new and sometimes strange ways. Throughout Jesus’ ministry, he brought about healing with many different methods. In today’s reading, he stuck his fingers in the man’s ears and put spit on the man’s tongue. This is quite possibly the most unconventional way he restored health to someone. G. Campbell Morgan commented on this odd behavior by saying, “He adapts His method to the peculiar circumstances of need of the one with whom He is dealing. I am quite convinced if we could perfectly know these men we should discover the reason for the method. In each case Christ adapted Himself to the need of the man.” How beautiful to think that our God looks at us as individuals and tailors the ways in which He deals with us perfectly to our hearts and our level of understanding. This man was deaf. Using words to speak healing would have been lost on him. Instead, Jesus showed him what he was doing for him. He met the man where he was, and he meets us where we are too.
Let us make prayer our love language. Let us not merely say the words, but feel the presence and the importance of those words. We can’t always help our friends in earthly ways, but we can always bring them to Jesus. We can always offer them up to our God. Let us pray with expectation, humility, and gratitude. The God who made us can save us and heal us. Let us never forget to lift one another up in prayer.
(Written by Keegan Harkins.)
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