Author: Nathaniel Colt

Read about It

Read: Psalm 23:1–6

Have you ever been in a rush to leave the house because you were late, and you couldn’t find one of your shoes? You run all over the place—looking in your closet, under your bed, and even in the garage. You start to feel so upset that you almost can’t think straight. You begin to get really frustrated until you realize that your shoe has been right in front of you the whole time.

Just as the disciples were probably running around the boat, scooping out the water that was flooding in and trying not to drown, sometimes we become upset in our hard times. We forget that God is with us. It can be easy to allow our focus to move to the hard things we’re going through instead of remembering He is with us through His Holy Spirit. We must learn to remember God’s presence. Like a shepherd, He is always close enough to help when we need, and He always has our well-being in mind.

Read about It

Read: Mark 4:38–41

When a baby is first learning to walk, they’re not very steady on their feet. They have many falls as they’re learning to take those first steps on their own. Sometimes when they fall, they may bump their head or their knees and begin to cry. They cry because they may have gotten hurt, or maybe because the fall scared them. But when someone who loves them comes and picks them up, the baby settles down and stops crying. They are comforted and at peace because they know they’re not alone.

When Jesus calmed the storm on the lake, the disciples were shocked that He could do that. They were also at peace because the storm settled at Jesus’ command. When we go through hard times in our life, we can look to God. He is more powerful than anything we face, and we can be sure that we are not alone. We can be comforted and at peace because we know that God is with us.

Read about It

Read: Mark 4:35–38

Try to remember the scariest storm you’ve ever been in. The rain is coming down so fast you can barely see in front of you, and the raindrops are hitting so hard that they actually hurt. The wind whipping around you is picking up branches, flowers, and other small items that may be close. The sky is dark, but you can see the lightning crackling through the sky. The loud sound of thunder is booming all around you. This would be pretty scary! Imagine how scary this storm would be if you were out on a boat in the middle of a lake!

This is a lot like what happened to Jesus’ disciples. They thought they were going to drown for sure, and they were terrified. Many times, the difficult times we face in life can feel like these storms. They can be scary, and we can feel like the disciples did, asking if God even cares. Yet, even in the middle of the storm on the lake, Jesus was there, and He was in control. In the middle of our storms, we can trust God because He is always close to us, and He is always able to help.

Read about It

Read: Acts 9:10–19

Ananias had a decision to make. God had spoken to him. Would he have faith for Saul? More importantly, would he obey God’s instruction to go to Saul? Before that day, Saul had been persecuting Christians. He had done terrible things. Now, God wanted Ananias to go to this man. Ananias had to have incredible faith to go to where Saul was and trust God to help Saul regain his sight. After Ananias laid his hands on Saul and spoke to him, Saul was healed. Saul was then baptized. Later he became one of the first Christian missionaries and wrote many books in the New Testament. But this all began because one man, Ananias, obeyed God in faith and decided to be part of what God was doing in Saul.

Through faith, we get the honor of being part of God’s work in others. God does powerful things when we pray together in faith. Having faith that God can do great things in the lives of others can be a challenge. But, it is amazing when we see God working in others. It’s an even more immense privilege when we’re actively part of their story and how God moves in them. How awesome would it be to see someone you are praying for come to Jesus! People of faith get to be part of the faith journey of others. Like Saul, those people may go on to make huge changes in the world!

Read about It

Read: James 5:13–16

How do people know that we are followers of Jesus? One way could be how we pray for other Christians. Together, we seek the Lord as friends, family, and fellow disciples on a mission to do His great work. These verses tell us that we should have the church’s elders pray for us when we are sick. We also see that we are to be open and honest, sharing our sins and struggles, and praying for one another. There is great power when a righteous person, someone who is following Jesus with all their heart, prays earnestly, praying sincerely and intensely. This kind of prayer happens when we live for Jesus and seek the Lord. These prayers can make big things happen! Earnest prayer changes our life and the lives of those we pray for.

Do you have a space where you can share your needs with others? Do you make time to hear the prayer needs of your friends and take time to pray for them? If you want to see God move, start to share your needs with others. Ask your friends to join you in prayer. In the same way, actively ask your friends how you can pray for them. Pray together with all your heart. Remember what your friends need in prayer, whether it is a grandparent who is sick, a test that is coming up, or a family that is hurting. Pray to God on their behalf and watch God move. Most importantly, don’t stop praying! Pray for the needs of others every time God brings them to mind. Then, rejoice and celebrate with your friend when their prayers are answered!

Read about It

Read: Mark 2:1–12

The enormous faith of his friends made a huge difference in the paralyzed man’s life. But there were a group of people who weren’t happy about what Jesus did. Some religious teachers were angry because Jesus forgave the man’s sins. Rather than seeing the miracle taking place, they could only see what they thought was Jesus breaking the rules. They thought it was blasphemy that Jesus was doing what only God can do! These men didn’t realize Jesus was God, even when the man who was paralyzed got up and walked. While the faith of the friends led them to be amazed and praise God, the hard hearts of the religious teachers just caused them anger.

God is greater than we can imagine. He does miracles and wonders. He also goes beyond what we hope for and doesn’t go by our rules. The religious teachers spent a lot of time studying who they thought God was, but they never recognized Jesus when He was right before them. Having faith means that we trust God to do what only He can do. When we see miracles and God answering prayer, let’s celebrate as the first thing we do! Let’s rejoice in what God is doing in our friends, family, and us. This way, our faith in God grows and builds confidence in others!

Read about It

Read: Matthew 18:20; Mark 2:1–12

Four friends were not going to stop until they got their friend to Jesus. They had enormous compassion for their paralyzed friend. But they also knew where they could get answers. Yet, they couldn’t get into the house when they arrived where Jesus was. Did that stop them? No! Searching for a way to get to Jesus, they dug a hole in the roof to lower their friend down to Him. Not only did they have to fight through the crowd and dig a hole, but they also had to do it while carrying around an adult man! Holding up their friend while trying to get to Jesus wasn’t easy. Still, these friends didn’t let anything stop them. Because of this, the man who was paralyzed was healed on that day!

These four friends showed so much love for their friend. They might have had many other things to do that day. Maybe they were tired from carrying him around. Of all the feelings that they had on that day, faith and love were the ones that won!

Do you have a friend who needs healing? Is there someone you know who needs an answer from Jesus? If there is, be the friend who steps up and joins your faith with theirs. Encourage and strengthen them. Like these four friends, don’t give up and keep going until Jesus answers. The Bible says in Matthew 18:20 that when two or three are gathered, God is there among them. Powerful things can happen when we have faith for our friends!