How to Help Someone Find Hope and Healing, Part 1

Do you know someone who seems like a hopeless case—someone who seems like they’ll never come to Christ? Maybe you once thought you were a hopeless case yourself.

I’ve found that a small group is the best place for a hopeless person to find healing. One of the parts I like best about being in a small group is that you can pray together for hopeless cases. And you can lean on the faith of each other when you start to doubt.

Luke 5 tells a great story of a small group of men who took a friend who was paralyzed and in need of healing to the feet of Jesus. Those men did what small groups of Christian friends still do today—they take you to Jesus when it feels too hard to get there by yourself.

In this story, you find seven characteristics of a small group that God uses to heal. Today we’re going to look at three of those characteristics, and tomorrow we’ll look at the rest. Here are the first three:

Compassion. This man was healed because his friends cared. It all starts with you caring about people who are hurting. Romans 15:2 says, “We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord” (NLT). God used these guys because they were sensitive to a friend’s need. And he’ll use you when you aren’t preoccupied with your own needs and when you start caring more about others than you do yourself.

Faith. The men believed God would heal their friend. Take a look at Luke 5:20: “When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven’” (NIV). It wasn’t the paralytic’s faith that made him well; it was the faith of his friends. How many people do you know who are so paralyzed they can’t believe in God? That’s when you have to believe for them.

Intervention. These friends didn’t just pray for their friend; they took action as well. They intervened! It’s not enough just to pray for someone who is hurting and caught in sin. You also have to do something. Jesus says in Luke 14:23, “Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full” (NIV). The Bible is full of examples of people taking others to Jesus.

So remember—when you’re with a friend in need of hope and healing, show compassion, have faith, and intervene on your friend’s behalf. No one was made to do life alone. God made us to need each other.