Become Radical Like JesusSample

DAY 5: HEAL

The word “healer” in conjunction with a religious leader conjures up images—not all of them good.

Does that mean God doesn’t heal today? Nope. Jesus has always been in the healing business. We see it in his earthly ministry and today.

During the prayer time at a ministry event I attended a couple decades ago in Washington, D.C., I experienced healing in a strange way.

Having predominately a Baptist and Fundamentalist background, I was familiar with the “steak” of sound doctrine but was kind of freaked out by the “sizzle” of the Holy Spirit on display in the Pentecostals at my table’s prayers that night, led by a man named Bob.

As Bob moved from person to person around the table, his prayers got louder and louder. When he eagerly asked me, “What’s your prayer request, son?” I thought: Maybe if I pray for something personal it will calm him down. Without thinking, I blurted, “My wife and I have been married for ten years and still can’t have kids.”

That was the wrong thing to say to Bob. He got this wild look and said, “I’ve prayed for hundreds of couples, and they’ve never failed to have kids!” Bob started his loud and long prayer: “DEAR GOD, IN THE NAME OF JESUS I PRAY THAT YOU TOUCH THIS MAN’S SPERM AND BRING THEM TO LIFE!!!”

Three weeks later, my wife got pregnant.

Does God heal today? The answer is a resounding “Yes!” Does he always heal? The answer is a resounding “No!”

When Jesus “saw the crowds” in Matthew 9:36, he saw them as they really were. He saw behind the smiling facades. He saw their hurts. He saw their pain. He saw the true condition of their souls.

Jesus Felt

Matthew 9:36 goes on to say, “he had compassion on them….” The Latin word for compassion means “to suffer with” but the Greek word, splanchnizomai, is a super-strong word for pity. It describes the compassion that moves someone to their core.

Years ago, I was on a preaching tour in India when I heard a slight tap on the car window. A little girl with the saddest face was pointing to her stomach and then pointing to her mouth, over and over again. I felt her pain in that moment. As I cried, I gathered what rupees I had in my pocket and dropped them into her little outstretched hands. It was splanchnizomai.

It’s what Jesus feels for us in our pain and what we should feel for others in theirs.

Radical Like Jesus Challenge

Sit down and watch people in a busy place for 30 minutes. Try to feel the pain they may be facing, and pray for their healing.