Faith and Blessings

And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die. So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him pleading with Him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, “for he loves our nation and built us a synagogue.”

Then Jesus went with them. And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard these things, He marvelled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such faith, not even in Israel!” And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick. Luke 1:2-10

Father in heaven, thank You that our works do not make us deserving of healing and answers to prayers but Jesus does. He is our only qualification for Your blessing. Thank You that He kept all Your commandments perfectly and redeemed us from the curse of the law. Thank You that we have been healed by His stripes.

We confess our unbelief in You and Your word. We confess that we have hindered Your ability to bless us and others by our unbelief. We confess that even in our prayers we have talked more about the problems than about Your mercy, love and grace and  the power of Your word. We confess that we have prayed for solutions and then taken the problem back. We have whined about our problems to others  instead of turning to You.

Oh, we long to be people that You marvel at because of our great faith rather than our unbelief. We cast ourselves upon Your mercy and faithfulness. We hold on to Your promise that when we are faithless You remain faithful for You cannot deny who You are.

We pray in the name of Jesus who is the originator and perfecter of our faith. Amen

Supporting Verses

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree), that the blessings of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Galatians 3:13-14

Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness- by whose stripes you were healed. 1 Peter 2:24

Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Matthew 13:51

Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching. Mark 6:5-6

If we are faithless,

He remains faithful;

He cannot deny Himself. 2 Timothy 2:13

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author (margin = originator) and finisher (margin = perfecter) of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2