Encounter: Crippled Man at the Pool of Bethesda

Scripture: John 5:1-9 NLT

Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking!

Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

For thirty-eight years this man had been ill, watching others be healed in front of him. Had he given up? Had he stopped asking for help? What kept him in his familiar place? Then you asked him, “Would you like to get well?” I imagine he hadn’t thought about it in a long time. That is so true in my life as well. I find myself, or put myself, in situations that I can’t get out of. I don’t, or won’t, ask for help, and finally I stop trying to be well, and even stop wanting to be well. Remind me of your saving grace, of your mercies that are new each day, and that my help comes from you. Lord, I want to be well.

Amen.

Read all of 40 Days of Prayer at easter.crossings.church.