Jesus and you are I, so why do you think so little of yourself?

I recently listened to one of my favorite preachers, Francis Chan, and he was talking about miracles and signs and wonders and how in all of his career as a Bible teacher and pastor, he's never seen a healing or prayed for someone to be healed and they were healed. He started having a complex about it, wondering if his faith was so weak that he should stop praying for people!

I can relate, and I'm sure you can too!  Sometimes I pray and pray and pray for someone to get saved or healed and nothing ever seems to happen. There are days and even weeks that pass when I feel my prayers are hitting the ceiling and laughing at me.  I start to feel like a real loser as a Christian. Then the devil comes in and reminds me of all my past sins and current weaknesses, and I end up curled up on my bed, hugging my pillow. All true, I say! 

Francis Chan was heading into a remote village somewhere where the people had never heard the Gospel. He was with a team of missionaries and they intended to preach and then offer to lay hands on people and heal them. He was feeling rather nervous. But then the Lord reminded him of these verses from Jesus's prayer in the Garden before He was arrested.

I do not pray for these alone,  but also for all those who will ever believe and trust in Me through their message, that they all may be one; just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe without any doubt that You sent Me.  John 17:20-21

The thing that struck Francis (and me) was the part where Jesus and the Father are ONE, meaning the Father is in Jesus and Jesus is in the Father AND that we who believe are also ONE with them. In other words, Jesus has actually made His home within us!  Of course we've heard this before. When we get saved Jesus comes to live in our heart... right?  But have you really grasped the full meaning and implication?  Jesus lives in YOU!  You are a walking, talking Jesus!

So when Francis walked into that village, he started to think of himself as Jesus walking into that village. And he asked himself what would Jesus do here?  He'd do what He always did while on earth. He'd preach and then heal. As it turned out that day Francis will tell you that he and his friends preached the gospel and then everyone who came forward for prayer was healed! He said Everyone! Including people who were deaf.  He said he had never been so amazed.

I don't think the problem is always our faith. I think the problem is that we don't remember WHO WE ARE in CHRIST.  He lives within us!  Ponder that for a moment. We need to stop focusing on ourselves, on our shortcomings, our lack of faith, me, me, me. We need to get ourselves out of the way and focus on Jesus IN US!   Our prayers have no power. But our prayers attached to His Will and Power can move mountains.

We often picture God way up in heaven sitting on a throne and we pray upward, hoping our requests will make it to His ears. But in truth, He's right here within us!

Your task for this week. Everywhere you go, everything you do, think of Jesus filling up your entire body with Himself. Then look around and do what He would do. Let His faith and power permeate your body and mind and spirit. There's no problem, no heartache, no struggle, no job, no pain, no disease, no nothing that He can't handle.

You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you!