I was wondering about the value of intercessory prayer. Then God put this story into my mind....
It's the story of the paralysed man whose friends brought him to the feet of Jesus. Now maybe he begged them to take him, because he'd heard of the miracles and was hoping for one for himself! Or maybe, from shame, he didn't want to be in Jesus' presence, but his friends brought him anyway. Afterall, in that culture, everyone "knew" that you were sick because you were cursed by God for terrible things you or your parents had done. Just like today, the self-righteous ones can be very judgemental! Who wants to be where they feel judged??? I'm sure he didn't want his "shame" to be on show for everyone. And his friends brought him to Jesus centre stage in a big crowd.
Jesus knew it was the shame that the man was acutely aware of, lying at his feet. His first words to the man were effectively "I care about you. Feel better. Your sins are forgiven". Not that Jesus believed that his condition was a judgement from God, but he knew that's what the man believed, and needed to hear.
Then, after those words had had time to sink in and heal his struggling spririt, Jesus healed his damaged body. Interestingly, and I had not noticed this before, Jesus did these things, not based on the man's own faith, but on the faith of his friends! Check it out in Matt 9, Mark 2 and Luke 5!
I still don't know how intercessory prayer works, but I know in my heart that it does. And I will keep bringing everyone I love to the feet of Jesus.
