Jesus Every DayНамуна

Bring Your Friend to Jesus

They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head.
Mark 2:4, NLT

When Jesus went home to Capernaum, many people gathered to hear him teach. Soon, the house where he was staying was filled to overflowing. It was standing room only.

As Jesus preached, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed friend on a mat. They had faith that if they could just get their friend into the presence of Jesus, he would be healed. But when they tried to get into the house, they were turned away. “Sorry,” they were told. “It’s packed.”

These men could have said, “Oh, man. I guess that’s it. Well, we tried.” But instead of giving up, they did something crazy: They climbed up on the roof, dug a hole, and lowered their friend on his mat right down in front of Jesus.

Don’t we need that kind of faith today? This very day, we may have some mountain in front of us. We’ve tried to get to Jesus with our problem, but we’ve run into obstacles. So had these four guys. But they found a way to overcome them.

When Jesus saw a man descending from the ceiling and dangling in front of him, he didn’t say, “Guys, the roof! You’re tearing it apart!” No. He saw the faith of these four men, and he said to their paralyzed friend, “Your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5, NLT). Then he said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” (Mark 2:11, NLT). The man immediately got up and walked out in front of everyone. “We’ve never seen anything like this!” the crowd said.

How did all this happen? Yes, it was by the power of Jesus. But it wouldn’t have happened if four people had not said, “We’ve got to get our friend to Jesus.”

Paul wrote to Timothy, “Pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf” (1 Timothy 2:1, NLT). Intercession is when one hand touches God in prayer, and the other hand touches a person who is in need of God. It’s not praying for ourselves. It’s praying for other people we know about and believing that God can solve their problems, save their souls, and heal their bodies.

Do you know someone who’s hurting or in a real mess today? You could feel bad for that person. Or you could judge the person and say, “It’s your fault this is happening to you.” Or you could bring that person to Jesus in prayer.

Notice, when Jesus saw “their faith”—the faith of the four men—he healed their friend. Who knows what the man himself was thinking? Why do you have me up on a roof? Why are you dropping me through this hole? Who’s down there? But the friends knew that with God, nothing is impossible.

Bringing someone to Jesus might take some doing. We might have to loosen a few tiles in our lives—overcome a habit of prayerlessness, deal with a negative attitude, stir up fresh faith to believe God for an answer. But we’ve got to take the time to get into God’s presence and bring that mother, father, sister, brother, friend to Jesus. There’s no telling what God will do when we pray with faith and bring that person into the presence of Jesus.

Lord, I bring my friend or family member to you. The need seems impossible, but you are able. Give me faith to intercede, no matter the obstacle.