Sunday, July 12, 2015

He Can Do Anything in His Name

John 14:12-14
 
12"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."
 
A few years ago I recall a debate or a serious question someone asked about why when Christians pray do they say the words, "In Jesus Name" before ending the prayer. Now from the scripture above it makes logical sense but I want to talk about from a faith perspective. The verses above are from the section called "Answered Prayer" in John 14. The Word says in Hebrews that without faith, it is impossible to please the Heavenly Father. What does that mean? It means that if you pray for something but do not believe that what you are praying for will be answered, "then why should God answer it?" If you lack the belief yourself for what you pray for then the words mean nothing. The definition of faith is found in Hebrews 11. Paraphrased it means to believe what you cannot yet see. For me, this is personal.
 
Toward the end of 2014 God kept saying to me through the Holy Spirit that someone dear to me was not quite right health wise. I recognized feeling from when I lost a family member ten years ago. In March, the one dear to me asked me to embark on something together we had never done before. God said to me, "just say yes." So I did. I learned right before my 40th birthday that the doctors had found something in this person's lungs back in October of 2014 but the person was told in March. God confirmed. The way I was told I wasn't able to react emotionally. All I could do was listen. When they left my home, I cried out to God something fierce. That night I began listening to forever Jones' song, "You Can do Anything." From that moment on, I decided that my prayer to God would be that when this loved one went back to the doctors for a retest, there would be nothing for them to see. I even shared it the next day in the Lord's house. I enlisted some prayer warriors with me. Now the doctors told my loved one what they saw they believed to be benign or noncancerous. So that's what the loved one believed. But again, I believe, Jesus can do anything. The retest was done earlier this week. I kept asking for the results as I believed there would be nothing. On Wednesday, I received the call. When I returned the call the loved one said, "the doctors found nothing. I guess it must have dissolved or something." I shouted and blessed the Lord. And then I confessed what my prayer had been since May with the other prayer warriors. The entire time, the prayer was in the name of Jesus. The Lord who heals or Jehovah Rapha is in the name of Jesus. He is called by many names.
 
Just as the friends who lowered their friend down through the ceiling to get to Jesus on his mat/sick bed, it was through their faith in the name of Jesus that their friend was completely restored. This is why I wouldn't stop praising His name during worship today even when all else was quiet. The worship leader said, "no one can praise Him for you." Yes, Tracey, that's why I couldn't stop this afternoon.  If any of you have lacked faith before, let this serve as a testimony to you, Jesus can do anything in His name if you wholeheartedly believe.