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DAY 1 – JESUS ON MOUNTAIN-MOVING FAITH AND PRAYER
QB churches are praying for personal, church and national revival. Jesus frequently spoke about the importance of people’s faith in the release of God’s miraculous power. We have so much to learn about faith. In this series of seven devotions, we explore some of Jesus’ statements on faith through the Gospel of Matthew and their implications for our praying. May God continue to grow our faith-filled prayer.
MONDAY JUNE 6: MATTHEW 8:5-13 – JESUS’ AUTHORITY
Matt 8:5-13
5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralysed, suffering terribly.” 7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” 8 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. 9 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.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 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. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment
The centurion was a Roman commander in charge of 100 soldiers (similar to a captain in the Australian army). The Roman army had a very clear command structure. Jesus referred to this in Matthew 21:22 when he said, “The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.” If you were one of the centurion’s soldiers, you did exactly what you were told or else. Exactly what you were told! There was no discussion or debate or excuse. You completely submitted to those in authority over you.
The centurion brought this model to his thinking about spiritual authority. In his mind it was black and white. If Jesus was in charge, then every disease or demon or distress was under his authority. Jesus didn’t need to bargain or argue or persuade. He was the boss. He didn’t even need to be physically present for healing. He could just “say the word.” That’s how powerful the centurion believed Jesus was.
After dealing with the sceptical Jewish religious leaders and the fickle crowds, the centurion’s black and white faith came as a breath of fresh air to Jesus. He was bowled over by such rock-solid belief. And the guy was a Roman not even a Jew. Jesus said, “I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”
Personally, I’m into shades of grey. I wouldn’t have lasted long in the Roman army. Very few things are absolutely clear-cut to me. This is a great advantage when dealing with broken people (like myself), but I wonder if it’s a significant barrier to big faith. When it comes to the lordship of Jesus, we either believe that he has complete authority, or we don’t. We either believe that he can save our family, or heal the sick, or renew our church, or bring revival, or transform our nation, or we don’t.
This is not to say that Jesus will necessarily do all these things. But the question here is, “Do I believe that he has complete authority or not?” That’s how big faith begins. Jesus himself said, “All authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). We either believe that or we don’t. A key part of our corporate and personal worship is declaring that Jesus has all authority. Great faith is always preceded by great worship.
FAITH-FILLED PRAYER FOR REVIVAL
Personal Revival: That I will experience a fresh appreciation of God’s love, forgiveness, grace and mercy.
Church Revival: That God will strengthen our heart for prayer and our expectation of what he will do.
National Revival: That our nation might be forgiven for rejecting God and becoming arrogant and self-sufficient and materialistic and immoral.