Praying is hard. It's a leap of faith into the unknown, hoping that God will be there to catch you. I struggle to ask God for help. Sometimes it feels as if I'm calling him from a place with no service, constantly asking, "Are you there?" or "Can you hear me?" Then the big question: "Can you really fix this?" When I find myself asking these questions I turn to the Bible. Specifically to the story of the centurion.
Depicted in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, the story of the centurion takes place when Jesus first arrives in Capernaum. A centurion is a Roman soldier who commands 100 soldiers. Typically there were about 60 centurions in a legion. This particular centurion had a slave, that he loved, who had fallen ill. When he heard that Jesus was coming he sent elders of the Jews to ask Jesus to heal his slave. The elders told Jesus that this centurion deserved his help because he loved the Jewish nation and had built them their synagogue. Jesus agrees to heal the slave and begins heading to the house of the centurion.
What happens next truly blows my mind!!
"He (Jesus) was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed." (Luke 7:6-7 NIV)
Say the word. This soldier had such faith that he knew Jesus didn't need to touch his slave or see him, he knew that he could just say the words. The centurion understood that Jesus was a man of authority. He understood that Jesus healed and preached with the authority of God, and through God all things are possible.
The Centurion went on to say, " For I myself am a man of authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one 'Go' and he goes; and that one 'Come' and he comes. I say to my servant 'Do this,' and he does." (Luke 7:8 NIV)
And Jesus was amazed by the soldier's faith. Matthew 8:10 says Jesus was astonished! Jesus tells the people following him, " I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel." This centurion was not a Jew. He was not a leader of the church. He was a Roman soldier, and yet he trusted so much in the authority of God that he was able to believe that Jesus just saying the words would heal his slave.
Despite the centurion being a Gentile or Roman, Jesus marveled at his faith. It's a faith I hope to have.The faith that allows me to take all my burdens and lay them at his feet. The faith that allows me to move mountains. I pray that despite my questioning and my doubt God instills in me the heart of the centurion and the faith of a mustard seed.
Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20 NIV)
