You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe…...

Once upon a time it seemed that people had bold faith that allowed them to just reach out and ask for a healing or a miracle without question or hesitation. They knew without a doubt that they would be healed, if they only asked. They knew that they would receive the miracle they longed for, if they only believed. However, it seems to me that there isn’t such faith anymore.

We pray when we can, but some part of us holds back our belief that God can answer all prayers. God answers our prayers in the way we least expect and sometimes just as we asked for them. It would be quite something to see someone who had been paralyzed for eight years suddenly get up and start making his bed. It would also be quite something to see someone we know raised from the dead without delay sometime after prayer. Peter performed two miracles in the name of Jesus Christ. How many of us who call ourselves children of God have enough faith to go out and heal others in the name of Jesus Christ? How many of us have enough faith to heal without any doubt that God will show up? How many of us have enough faith to know that God will heal as many people as possible though us?

It would be nice if miracles like the ones that happened in the first reading happened more often today. I can imagine that if such grand and unexplained miracles would happen today the churches would be full and the lines of people seeking a miracle would be long. We as people, like sure things. We like to know that if we pray or ask someone to pray for us that we would see and feel the miracle or healing right away. I find that if I don’t receive the healing or miracle I am praying for, the intensity and boldness of my prayers increase but there is always a slight decrease in my faith. During prayers I find myself searching for the presence and peace of God. I would pray with all my strength as if God cared about intensity, volume, word combinations, and quantity. It usually takes me awhile in prayer to realize that God just wants me to reach out and ask for help. Afterall, “to whom shall we go? as Simon Peter said.”

Loving God, increase our faith so we may go out and heal one another in your name. Amen.