When Faith Carries a Friend

God has given His word to us. We call it the Holy Bible. We are supposed to grow closer to God by loving His words. That is the way out for every situation in life. Jesus is the Word. In the Biblical times of Jesus, people gathered around Him in crowds to listen to what He says. When we read Mark 2 verse 2, it says, “So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door.” We can see people's thirst for the words of Jesus here.

It is so beautiful to see four friends who wanted their friend, a paralysed man, to get healing. They wanted the powerful, healing, forgiving words of Jesus not only for them but for their paralysed friend. Paralysis will keep you in a numb state. Sometimes the person with paralysis can speak but with a weak, hoarse, or breathy voice. He is simply not in a position where he can seek help for himself.

But thankfully, he had friends who carried him toward the wonderful presence of Jesus. They didn't just pray for his healing but carried him to the presence of Jesus. The Bible is not talking about the faith of the paralytic man, but in verse 5 we see Jesus appreciating his friends' faith. The verse goes like this: “When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’”

Soon we can see the people who despised the power of Jesus around them. Surprisingly, they were among the crowd which sought the word of Jesus.

Hey friend, are you trying to help someone with your prayer in their paralytic state, where they are numb physically and mentally because of what they go through? Put your full effort, like those friends, into helping your friend reach the presence of Jesus. Sometimes our two-minute prayers are not enough. God expects us to remove the roof that is standing between them and Jesus. Yes, break the barriers.

In New Testament days, the house roofs were made by laying branches over roof beams. Mud was packed over the branches. Clearly, it shows that the friends must have put in hard effort in breaking it. They opened it layer after layer. No matter what, they wanted healing for their paralysed friend, even if he was in a state of numbness spiritually.

When people go through storms, sometimes the hardship makes them go numb spiritually. They would lack faith and energy to go to the presence of Jesus. But God has kept us in each other's lives because we need to carry each other to God's presence no matter what. God takes our friendships seriously. And God will make our paralytic friend walk and rejoice once again.

In the book of Job, we can see God asking Job to pray for his friends. It is in Job chapter 42 verses 7 to 9. If we read everything about them, we can see they added no comfort to Job's heart when he was going through loss but added more grief by blaming Job for his loss. Sometimes God will ask us to pray for such friends too. But verse 10 says, “God restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave twice as much as he had before.”

No matter what kind of friends we have in life, may we understand God's plan behind it and hold each other in prayer. Deliver each other through prayer. May we, as friends, draw each other closer to God.

Dear God, thank you for the friends you have given in our lives. We pray that you rescue, heal, forgive, and comfort them. May we stand for each other and draw closer to you in the time of our weakness and numbness. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen