It was “their faith,” the men who brought the paralyzed man to Jesus, that moved Jesus to forgive and heal the man.
Rob writes, “What a wonderful picture, Mike. I realize in reading this that I am very much prone to praying after having talked issues through with someone who comes to see me. What a mistake that is. In future, the very first thing I will do is pray with the person for an open heart and mind and eyes to 'see Jesus.'”
In our mentoring, it is often the case that our students have no faith. Maybe they have been so long in their sin that they have lost faith to believe things could ever be different. Maybe they are paralyzed with fear. Maybe the devil has blinded their minds to the gospel so they don’t see Jesus’ healing power (2 Corinthians 4:4). We can find these things out simply by asking good questions and listening well to their answers.
And so we are in the role of taking people to Jesus, believing He can forgive and heal them; in essence, we are taking them to Jesus because we are believing for them. We want to see them washing at the cross and being cleansed in the healing fountain of Jesus' blood. We want to see them walking by the Spirit of God so that they crucify their lusts and no gratify the lusts of their flesh. And we want to see them seeking God for a plan to defeat their particular sins.
We know that if there is to be any healing in their lives it will only happen if they go to Jesus, and sometimes they don’t have faith to believe and go by themselves, so we take them to Him, believing that Jesus does not withhold His love or forgiveness from those who come to Him (or those who are brought to Him).
How do we do this practically? We bring our students to the Lord in prayer and we pray God’s Word back to Him on behalf of our students. We get the instruction to do it this way from John 15:7 which says (in the NLT), “But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!”
So we pray God’s Word to Him about our students and are assured that He will answer in His time and way. I’ve found that the Amplified version of the Bible is a very helpful resource when praying for my students. Here is an example:
Rick comes to us feeling very weak and unloved. He has been turning to impurity in the form of adultery, looking for love but has found that he is left riddled with guilt, detested by his wife who has found him out, but too weak to stop his sinful behavior. He is a professing Christian.
I’ve asked Rick questions for quite a while and have listened carefully to his answers, even asked some clarifying questions when I wasn't sure what he was saying. Then I prayed and asked God to give me the appropriate Word for Rick. God has given me Ephesians 3:16-19 to pray for him, and now I will respond to Rick, praying through Ephesians 3:16-19:
Rick, I’ve just brought you to the Lord in prayer, and I’m asking Him to grant you forgiveness and healing, asking Him to wash you clean at the cross; I believe He will do it, and He has given me Ephesians 3:16-19 to pray for you. Here is how I am praying for you right now:
“Dear Father in heaven, I bring Rick to You. You have a rich treasury of healing that You can give Rick; indeed by Your stripes on the cross we are both forgiven and healed. So I am asking that You would give Rick Your strength to wash at the cross and be cleansed, to turn from sin, and that You would reinforce Rick with Your mighty power, the same power that You used to raise Jesus out of the grave. Please put that same mighty power in Rick’s heart, deep in his inner man, and raise him out of the grave of sexual impurity, giving him your Spirit to walk with him.
Oh Lord, please make Rick’s heart the home of Your Son, Jesus, so that Jesus Himself would invade Rick’s heart and make it His home, His permanent dwelling place. Give Rick the power to grasp the immensity of Christ’s love for Him by looking at the cross! Help Rick to see the height from which Jesus came from heaven to rescue him, the depths to which Jesus sank on the cross to save him! Lord, let Rick be rooted deeply and founded securely in the love of Jesus. Help Rick to look at the cross just now and grasp this love, to truly comprehend it in a life-changing way.
Yes Lord, I ask that You yourself would bring this gospel love to Rick’s heart, that he would come to know practically, experientially, this heart-romancing love of Jesus; this experience of love that far surpasses mere knowledge, and that Rick would literally be filled with this love through his entire being, head to toe, so that he would be set free.
And Father, as I close this prayer, I want to ask that You would fill Rick, through his entire being, with this life-transforming love of God. Jesus, you emptied Yourself on the cross, poured out Your entire life’s blood and gave up Your Spirit, in order to fill Rick with Your Spirit, Your very presence! Now, please flood Rick with the fullness of God Himself to replace the emptiness of impurity. In Jesus' Name, Amen.”
We want to pray God’s Word, centered in the cross, for our students. Pick any Scripture, literally anyone that you know, and pray through it for the student. When you get stuck learn to ask God to help you find a Scripture that addresses your student's needs, and then pray it to Him for them. God will give you the Word you are to pray to Him and then you’re able to write out your prayer and send it to your student.
Here are some sample student responses. These are real student responses taken from the course lessons. We know that there are three key elements to mentoring, but in this lesson please just stick with praying for the student. If you would like to pray through God's Word for the student, as I did above, then just pick any Scripture and use it to pray for them. Here are your students:
1. Jim (male) or Angelica (female) is in the Setting Captives Free Purity Follow-up course.
Lesson 12 Question 10. How are you doing today? How might we pray for you? We are eager to hear from you and to pray with you about any issue in your life.
Student response: I messed up over the past couple of days. I hadn't been focusing on God but rather myself. But I'm getting back up and pushing forward, focusing on God. Please pray for me.
2. Tamara (female) or Jeff (male) is taking the Depression course.
Lesson 11 Question 6. How are you doing today? Please share with us how things are going for you, and any prayer requests that you might have.
Student response: I’m really struggling today. I just found out that as of the end of the month, I no longer have a job. My company is downsizing. I did not know that this was coming. I’ll admit that I’m concerned about what this might mean—a new job, possible move, etc. Thank you for praying for me.
3. Tricia (female) or Roderick (male) has a problem with Media.
Lesson 5 Question 6. How are you doing today? Please share any prayer requests that you have, as our mentors love to pray for and with students.
Student response: I'm doing okay... Not great but not horrible. I think I keep going to media to handle my anxiety about my job. Please pray that the time I spend with Jesus will draw me into longing for Him more.
4. Rick (male) Tasha (female) has enrolled in the A United Front course.
Lesson 12 Question 10. How are things going for you today? Please share your thoughts with us here:
Student Response: I'm ok. I have not done a lesson in a week and part of me doesn’t want to do my lessons because my spouse is not doing their lessons. I know this is wrong thinking I have to trust that Jesus has my marriage in His hands. Please pray for me.
5. Tom (male) or Nannette (female) has enrolled in the Weight Loss course.
Lesson 22 Question 4. Are you experiencing divine power as you believe and apply the promises of the gospel? Are you sharing in God’s own nature which is enabling you to escape corruption and sinful desires? Please share here:
Student Response: I cannot say that I have felt anything from God lately. As for sharing God’s nature, I try to act in ways that are Godly, but since there is so much going on and really only one way of distraction for me right now that seems to soothe my current void (eating), I fall very short and fail too often as far as food is concerned.
Question 3. Please take these students to Jesus, write out your prayer for them here.
Log in / create an account to enroll or continue where you left off.
Dear friend, I encourage you to get in the habit of praying the gospel-centered Scriptures for and with your students. Take them to Jesus in prayer, just as the men took the paralyzed man to Jesus. It might be that when He sees your faith He will forgive your student and heal him or her. This is the necessity of prayer in mentoring.
So far you've shared a bit of your story with your student and prayed for your student. In the next few lessons, we share the gospel with our students.
In closing, please remember how important it is to ask questions of your students and really "listen with your heart". This is something I'm trying to improve on all the time. Try to draw out your student's heart, and then open your heart to them in response.
2 Corinthians 6:11-13 (NIV) We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. 12 We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. 13 As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children—open wide your hearts also.