Jesus the Healer: Do you Want to be become well?

When we have allowed God's healing light to enter us fully,

there is a change within us.  ~ Flora Slosson Wuellner

Welcome dear friend, to a series on the healing stories of Jesus. The root of the word healing in New Testament Greek, sozo, is the same as that of salvation and wholeness.  (UM Book of Worship)

I invite you to enter into a time of deep prayer with scripture as we explore the healing stories of Jesus.  Gather your journal if you have one, your bible and something to write with or simply use your computer, I've provided everything you need.

Take a moment to pause and stretch, scan your body and simply notice how it feels.  Acknowledge any aches, pains, distractions, anxieties, etc. and let them go.  Know they'll be waiting for you ...

Begin with a "Breath Prayer"

Breathing in ... Healing Jesus 
Breathing out ... I want to be whole
Repeat your breath prayer until you feel relaxed and centered

Pray for illumination of the text, use this one or pray what emerges from within you:   Healing Jesus, I often feel weak and broken and unable to move.  With the light of your love, reveal the path to wholeness and empower me for the journey ahead.  Amen.

1.  Lectio/Read:   John 5:1-9 (NET) As you read, perhaps there is a word or phrase that will draw you to it.  Pay attention. Turn the word or phrase over and over in your mind.  Simply sit with your word or phrase and be grateful. 

After this there was a Jewish feast, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool called Bethzatha in Aramaic, which has five covered walkways. A great number of sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed people were lying in these walkways. Now a man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and when he realized that the man had been disabled a long time already, he said to him, “Do you want to become well?”  The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get into the water, someone else goes down there before me.”  Jesus said to him, “Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.”  Immediately the man was healed, and he picked up his mat and started walking. (Now that day was a Sabbath.)

2.  Meditatio/Meditation

Read the text a second time.  You may find that the same word has energy for you, but you may also find that another word has become more alive with meaning.  Pay attention.  How does your word or phrase shine light upon your path?   Take your word and write freely, in your journal or on your computer.  Don't think about what you are writing as you let God lead you deeper.

3. Oratio/Pray 

Read the text a third time.  Then read your own writing if you wrote anything.  Are there any connections you can make between what you read and the writing that flowed from your reading?  How do you respond to what God has shown you?   Take a moment to write again in your journal or on your computer as a prayer in response to what you have heard.   

4. Contemplatio/Contemplation 

Take a moment to pause.  Allow your breath prayer to emerge again.  You can use the same one from the beginning or perhaps a new one will emerge for you.  As you continue to pray, let the words fade away into silence. Spend time simply "be"ing with God. 

Allow your experience of praying with scripture to come to a close when you are ready to move on.  Simply let the Spirit lead you and guide you into the presence of God.

Close with a prayer to send yourself into the world, use this one or pray what emerges from within you: Healing Jesus, thank you for caring for me and for walking with me as I make my journey through this world.  When I feel broken, discouraged, and lost, I know you will always be with me   Amen.