Week 7 - Day 5

DAY 5

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him,
asking for help. "Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home
paralyzed and in terrible suffering." Jesus said to him, "I will go
and heal him." The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to
have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my
servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority,
with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that
one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he
does it." When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to
those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone
in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come
from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast
with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the
subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Then Jesus
said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it
would." And his servant was healed at that very hour. Matt 8:5-
13. I (Amy) want Jesus to be astonished by my faith in Him!

Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without
warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves
swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went
and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" He
replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got
up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely
calm. The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is
this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!" Matt 8:23-27

Jesus was with them in the boat! What storm is in your life right
now? Maybe you are in a financial storm, a marriage storm? The
same Jesus that rebuked the storm that the disciples were in, lives
in YOU! What can you learn from these scriptures to build your
faith in Jesus?

Jesus could have told the disciples to ride out the storm because
He was with them, but that is not what Jesus did. He rebuked the
storm and there was an immediate perfect peace. He can do the
same for you today! Pray and ask! He is the same today as He
was in that boat all those years ago.

Now let’s look at some scripture about intercessory prayer.

Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ,
sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his
prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will
of God. Col 4:12 NASB
We have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you
with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and
understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life
worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing
fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being
strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so
that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully
giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the
inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has
rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the
kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the
forgiveness of sins. Col 1:9-14

WOW! Read those verses again and make a list of what Paul
asked God to do on behalf of his brothers and sisters in Christ.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on
the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the
devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers
of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that
when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your
ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm
then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the
breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted
with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In
addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can
extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet
of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers
and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on
praying for all the saints. Eph 6:10-18

Prayer is important because it is how we war in the spiritual
battle!
• How have you been warring in the past? With prayer or your
own strength?
• How will you battle differently in the future?