Jesus sees your FAITH By Derek Prince Ministries 
FAITH in Prayer

Do you ever wonder whether your faith or prayers make any difference at all? I hope that after you read this letter, you will realize that they do. In situations involving the people you care for, your faith may well be the deciding factor to the Lord. Why? Because Jesus sees and responds to your faith.

Four Friends with Faith

Recently, my eyes were opened to a biblical principle I had completely missed. I was studying Mark 2, where four men who cared intensely about their paralytic friend decided to bring him to Jesus for healing. As it happened, it was a more complicated matter than they expected. When they got to the house in Capernaum where Jesus was ministering, it was so jammed with people that these four men had no chance of getting their buddy's stretcher through the front door.

So what did these faithful, determined companions do? They hauled him up on the roof, dug a hole through the tiles, and lowered him right down in front of Jesus.

This comment in verse 5 of Mark 2 (NASB) was the eye-opener for me:

     "And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.' [And then, just minutes later in verses 11 and 12:] 'I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.' And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone."

What was the key to the paralytic's complete healing? Not his own faith, but the faith exercised by his friends. Jesus took note of it, and it made all the difference.

Most teaching on healing emphasizes the need for faith on the part of the individual seeking help from the Lord. Certainly, this is a valid biblical principle.

For example, Hebrews 11, the "faith chapter," stresses individual, personal faith: "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (verse 6, NASB). And yet, in many other accounts like the one in Mark 2, it is abundantly clear that Jesus also takes note of the faith of others on behalf of the person who needs His touch.

Fathers and Mothers with Faith

One very moving story of this type is in Mark 9, where the father of an epileptic boy brings him first to the disciples, and then ultimately to Jesus for help. Does Jesus expect the boy to believe for his own deliverance? Nope. His challenge for faith goes to the father: "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes" (9:23, NKJV).

The father responds in verse 24 with the best he can do-a hopeful (though halting) step forward in faith: "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" Yet even that father's faltering faith brought miraculous deliverance for his son.

Another moving account is the Gentile woman in Matthew 15 who cries out to Jesus to help her demon-possessed daughter. Jesus, responding to her humility and persistence, answers her with these words: "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire" (15:28, NKJV). And the woman's daughter was healed that very hour.

Whose faith brought the victory? Not that of the son, nor the daughter. It was the faith of the father and the amazing faith of the Gentile mother. Jesus saw their faith and responded with miraculous deliverance. In your situation, too, Jesus sees your faith. And that can make all the difference.

Miracles of Faith

Derek Prince shared many helpful insights to confirm this truth. Here are just two:

From Derek's radio message, "Fatherhood":
     "This is very conspicuous in the story of the epileptic boy recorded in Mark 9. I was gripped by the realization one day that Jesus held the father responsible to believe for his son.
     "The son, because of his condition, obviously couldn't exercise much faith for himself. But in any case, Jesus didn't ask the son to exercise faith. He required the father to exercise faith on behalf of his son. I believe that it is a responsibility of parents to exercise faith in intercessory prayer on behalf of our children to bring them to God through Jesus Christ."

Faith for Someone You Love (Prayer for KK)

      "Lord Jesus, right now I envision myself on the roof with my loved one. I see myself digging a hole through that roof as anact of faith. And by faith, I lower this dear one right down in front of You.
     "Lord Jesus, I see You looking at me, taking note of my faith, and moving to touch the one I love. I believe, Lord, in Your power to heal and restore. Help me get rid of any unbelief that might hinder that process.
     "I believe You are seeing my faith and the faith of others for this one that I love, and that You are bringing salvation, healing, and total restoration. Thank You, Lord Jesus."

Uniting Our Faith with Yours

Faith of the Centurion - Luke 7:1-10

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Jeremiah 33:6
   "Behold, I will bring you health and cure, and I will cure you, and will reveal unto you the abundance of peace and truth."

Matthew 18:19
  "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on Earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven." NOTE - The prayer of agreement is powerful - have someone agree with you for your healing!

Mark 11:24
  "Therefore I say to you whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." Surely this includes healing!

Isaiah 58:8
   "Thy light shall break forth as the morning, and thy health shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee: the glory of the Lord shall be thy rear guard."

Psalm 41:3 (Amplified Version)
    "The Lord will sustain, refresh, and strengthen him on his bed of languishing; all his bed You [O Lord] will turn, change, and transform in his illness." NOTE - I love how the Amplified Bible brings out the fullness of meaning in the original language. The phrase "all his bed" in the Hebrew, has the meaning of; all that he is afflicted with, or all of his condition that he is lying with" It is always His will to turn, change and transform our mourning into dancing - Psalm 30:11


1 Thessalonians 5:23
    "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly [completely]; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless [sound, complete and intact] unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." NOTE - It is very clear in this passage that wholeness, wellness, and health is for the complete make-up of man, spiritual, mental, and physical.

1 Peter 2:24
    "Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness-- by whose stripes you were healed." NOTE - Past tense "You were healed". Jesus paid it all for your total deliverance - spirit, soul and body!

Psalm 103:2-3
   "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who heals all thy diseases" 
NOTE - Notice it doesn't say some, it says all! It also states that healing is one of the benefits that belongs to the believer along with the benefit of having our sin forgiven. 

3 John 2 "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth."

Jeremiah 17:14 "Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise." NOTE - Once a person finally understands that healing is a part of the finished work of grace along with salvation, paid for at the same time with the same healing Blood, then you can get excited about this verse saying; "You did it Lord for me! Then according to this verse I will agree and say, I will have healing just as I have salvation, it's mine NOW!"

James 5:14-15
   "Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him."