"And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them.  Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men." Mark 2:1-3

As Jesus worked many miracles His notoriety grew throughout the land.  In our text today we read of a paralytic man being carried by four friends to Jesus.  The friends knew if they could just get the man to Jesus everything would be ok!  The man could not go to Jesus himself because he was paralyzed, unable to walk, so his four friends picked him up and carried him.  When they got to the house there was no way to get into the front door; people had packed the house to see Jesus.  So the men desperate to get their friend to Jesus climbed up on the roof, made a hole in it and lowered the man down.  These friends would not allow their paralytic friend to miss out on Jesus.  Jesus forgives the man of his sins and heals him, so that he is able to take up his bead and walk out.

These men picked their friend up with the mindset that they were going to get him to Jesus no matter what it took!  And that's exactly what they did!  We have many family and friends who are paralyzed by sin.  They need Jesus but can't get to Him in their present sinful condition.  We must pick them up and carry them before Him.  We carry them by praying fervently for them, and then sharing the Word of God with them.  If our friends and family are ever going to come to Jesus it will be up to us to carry them there.  Remember, there is power when we lift our loved ones up in prayer, and if we don't carry them before the throne of Grace in prayer we will never be able to share the Gospel with them.  Grab your loved ones, picked them up in passionate prayer and carry them to Jesus!

"The LORD is far from the wicked, But He hears the prayer of the righteous." Proverbs 15:29