Carriers
By Peggy Kleckner
“Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’”
Mark 2:3-5 (NIV)
By Peggy Kleckner
“Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’”
Mark 2:3-5 (NIV)
Have
you ever felt overwhelmed by the needs of your friends and family? Have you
wondered what to pray or how to pray for people whose needs seem bigger than
your faith?
I was walking and praying one day when I just had to flat out tell God that I had no idea how He should or could resolve the issues in my friend’s life. Her struggles seemed to be jumbo-sized and the list just seemed to continue on relentlessly. I wondered aloud how to pray for a friend like that. What words could possibly express or contain that immensity? In a moment, I had His answer.
Have you ever seen the series MASH? Out of that series came just the picture I needed. Remember when all the wounded would be brought in carried by corpsmen? They would line up all the stretchers that were filled with the wounded, casualties of all types. The chief doctor would look each one over and determine what was needed. Once that determination was made, the corpsmen were told where to put each patient and what order each should be brought into the operating room. Well, that’s our job, too. We are just the corpsman. We don’t determine what is needed. We bring our prayer concerns to the Father without telling Him what needs to be done.
We are only the “carriers,” like the people in the verse we find in the gospel of Mark. Those friends brought their friend on a stretcher. They were relentless in their pursuit to bring him to Jesus. They came together to bear him up. They didn’t give up until he was at the feet of Jesus. Mark doesn’t note that they even made a request. They were just carriers. Jesus knew what was needed and He answered their faith.
What a relief to know that we don’t even need to know what to say, we are just to bring our friends to Jesus. He knows just what they need.
GOING DEEPER:
1. Have you been trying to tell God what to do with each of your prayer requests? Are you willing to just bring them, lay them at His feet and trust Him to know just what is needed?
FURTHER STUDY:
Romans 8:26-39; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; James 5:13-20
Peggy is a wife and mother of four adult children - - two sons and two stepsons, and is an active encourager at Oakwood Church in Delafield.
I was walking and praying one day when I just had to flat out tell God that I had no idea how He should or could resolve the issues in my friend’s life. Her struggles seemed to be jumbo-sized and the list just seemed to continue on relentlessly. I wondered aloud how to pray for a friend like that. What words could possibly express or contain that immensity? In a moment, I had His answer.
Have you ever seen the series MASH? Out of that series came just the picture I needed. Remember when all the wounded would be brought in carried by corpsmen? They would line up all the stretchers that were filled with the wounded, casualties of all types. The chief doctor would look each one over and determine what was needed. Once that determination was made, the corpsmen were told where to put each patient and what order each should be brought into the operating room. Well, that’s our job, too. We are just the corpsman. We don’t determine what is needed. We bring our prayer concerns to the Father without telling Him what needs to be done.
We are only the “carriers,” like the people in the verse we find in the gospel of Mark. Those friends brought their friend on a stretcher. They were relentless in their pursuit to bring him to Jesus. They came together to bear him up. They didn’t give up until he was at the feet of Jesus. Mark doesn’t note that they even made a request. They were just carriers. Jesus knew what was needed and He answered their faith.
What a relief to know that we don’t even need to know what to say, we are just to bring our friends to Jesus. He knows just what they need.
GOING DEEPER:
1. Have you been trying to tell God what to do with each of your prayer requests? Are you willing to just bring them, lay them at His feet and trust Him to know just what is needed?
FURTHER STUDY:
Romans 8:26-39; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; James 5:13-20
Peggy is a wife and mother of four adult children - - two sons and two stepsons, and is an active encourager at Oakwood Church in Delafield.
