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This Gospel teaches us about prayer.
First, the friends of the paralytic and the paralytic never said a word to each other. Yet, even if they never said a word to each other, the gesture of taking him to Jesus and wanting him to be healed was in itself a prayer. The first lesson is, in order to pray, we do not have to say much. In order to pray, we must show much faith in the Lord. If our prayers do not have any effect on us, could it be because we talk too much at prayer? The four men—friends of the paralytic—did not even talk and yet they prayed sincerely.
Second, as soon as they brought the paralytic to Jesus, they completely withdrew. In other words, they were saying to Jesus, “Here he is, bahala na ho kayo.” (You take charge.) They did not even tell Jesus what to do. They did not even ask Jesus for healing. They simply brought the paralytic to Jesus, left him there, and they slipped away.
That is how we must pray. Just enter into the presence of God and allow God to decide for us. Let us not give God a seminar on what to do when we pray. Sometimes, we pray too long and too specific that we do not give God anymore a chance to decide.
The third thing about the paralytic’s healing is that the Lord saw the faith of his friends. In English, we cannot distinguish, but in the original Aramaic, we know that the paralytic was healed, not because of the faith of the paralytic, but because of the faith of his friends.
This is one great healing story in the Gospel where it is not the faith of the sick man that touches Jesus, but the faith of his friends. The lesson is the power of praying for others. Our loved ones may not have faith, but if our faith is strong, our prayer for them will be answered nevertheless. Jesus saw their faith. The paralytic probably had no faith at all, but he was healed nevertheless because of the faith of his friends.
PRAYER WITH FAITH
Mk. 2:1-12
Love Like Jesus
