Releasing of Love

Seeing people coming forward to the altar for prayer is an amazing thing. It is wonderful to see people having the courage and faith to come forward and allowing someone to pray with them. People come for many reasons, one of which is for healing. There are so many people out there who need healing, and seeing them come in faith to be prayed for is wonderful. I have seen it many times and have even had the privilege of praying for people at the altar. I have also been to the altar for prayer, and I can tell you that something very powerful takes place when people are covering you in prayer. It is truly an honor and privilege to pray for someone, and many people need prayer for many different reasons. As the church, we are always to be ready and willing to pray with whoever needs it.

In Luke 13:10-17, we read about a woman who came forward and got healed at the request of Jesus and got healed while in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues one day, and while teaching, He noticed a woman who desperately needed healing. The Bible says this woman was bent up double for she could not even stand up straight and had been this way for eighteen years. The Bible says that a spirit had caused her sickness. Jesus, upon seeing her, called her to Him and said, " Woman, you are freed from your sickness." He then laid His hands upon her, and immediately she was able to stand up straight, and she began to glorify God. This, though, did not sit well with the synagogue official, and he said, " There are six days in which work should be done; therefore, come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day." Jesus, not liking what he was saying, said, " You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him? And this woman a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?" The Bible says that when He said this, His opponents were being humiliated, and the entire multitude was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.

I can only imagine what that moment had to have been like, not only for this woman but for all that were that day. Think also for a minute about the inner strength of this woman. Here she was bent in two, not able to stand straight, and where was she? She was in that synagogue – doing what she could to learn. She didn't stay at home feeling sorry for herself; she went to the synagogue. Then Jesus calls her over and heals her – He heals her because Jesus said that she deserved to be healed. The officials then go and try to discredit Jesus and what He did, and yet Jesus would not allow it; imagine how that woman felt the moment that she was able to stand up straight and then for her to hear how that healing on the Sabbath was not right – at least according to that official. I can only imagine what was going through her mind – her mind was set on glorifying the God who healed her. Others that day were able to witness a miracle, which I'm sure added to their faith as well.

This story shows us that not everyone will rejoice when something great happens to us, whether it's healing, a promotion at work, or even just being blessed. Even when they can see that it is God's hand working in our lives, there will always be those who will try and say it is not right, and yet even for us, Jesus will not have ant part of it. Whatever God makes happen in our lives, we are to rejoice and glorify God and not concern ourselves with others' thoughts. When God brings that freedom from things in our life that have bound us or even brings a releasing of think or say about us, we are to know it is from God, and we are to rejoice. We are to then also as this woman did stand tall and erect and proclaim what God has done not in an arrogant or prideful way but a humble and yet joyous manner. We are also to take whatever He has blessed us with and bless others, which also continues to glorify God.

God has so much love for us that He wants us all released and set free from Satan's which has tried to bind around us. He wants us free and removed from his grip, and when that happens, we are to testify of His greatness and His provision in our lives. So whatever you need to be released from, know that God is willing and able and will release you, and even though others may not share in your joy about it, God is the one who is in control. Remember that God is the one who has done it and has done it because of His great love for you because, in His mind, you deserve it.

From Gardens of Splendor by Gina Burns