In Acts chapter 3 is the story of Peter and John going up to the Temple together at the hour of prayer and they heal a man who has been lame from birth. It also says that every day they laid him at the entrance of the Temple or the Eastern Gate so he could ask for financial assistance.
In Acts 4:22 we find this man was over forty years old. Yeshua died at thirty-three years old. That means every single time Yeshua entered the Eastern Gate, during His entire life he saw him, recognized him and never healed him! To grasp the deep significance of this story, you really need to connect to your Jewish roots!
To begin with, there is a significant English mistranslation. In Acts 3:1 it states that it was the ninth hour, which is 3:00 p.m, the time of the evening sacrifice. It also it is not just the hour of prayer but the hour of the prayer. There is a prayer that the observant Jews have prayed three times a day for the last 2,300 years! This prayer was prayed at 9 a.m., the time of the morning sacrifice, 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the time of the evening sacrifice. This prayer was written several hundred years before Messiah was even born. Messiah, Himself, prayed this prayer three times a day for His entire life!! I even have the words to this phenomenally anointed prayer.
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The name of this prayer is called the “Amidah.” It contains 18 blessings we say to the LORD. It teaches how we are to come into the Presence of the King of Kings! It begins with three blessings of praise, twelve for petitions and then closes with three blessings for thanksgiving. What is amazing is that Yeshua wanted to wait to have this man healed exactly at the hour of this prayer to show us its importance and significance. The Hebrew word Amidah means “to stand.” Do you grasp the significance? He wanted the lame man to be healed and to stand during “The Standing Prayer!” Look at the text in verses 7-9:
And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God.
One of the blessings in this prayer is for healing! I believe he was healed at the exact time of that prayer and when he entered the Temple he joined everyone with the prayers of thanksgiving! Here is the prayer for healing, which is the eighth prayer, with a specific, personal addition for the sick person’s name inserted before the closing lines.
Heal us, O LORD, and we will be healed; save us, and we will be saved, for You are our praise. Oh, grant us a perfect healing from all of our ailments, for You, Almighty King, are a faithful and merciful Healer, Blessed are You, Oh LORD, the healer of the sick of His people Israel.
But wait, there’s more! In John 20:19-21 we find the disciples, on the first day of the week, after Messiah had resurrected that morning, and Mary Magdalene had even told them so, they were still gathered together in fear. It also states it was at evening meaning the time of the evening sacrifice and the hour of praying the Amidah again! They were praying the Amidah when He appeared to them! Look at another prayer from the Amidah that they were praying! It is the second blessing known as to the “God of nature.”
You, Oh LORD, are mighty forever, You revive the dead, You have the power to save. You cause the wind to blow and the rain to fall. You sustain the living with loving-kindness, You revive the dead with great mercy, and You support the falling, heal the sick, set free the bound and keep faith with those who sleep in the dust. Who is like You, Oh doer of mighty acts, who resembles You, a King who puts to death and restores to life, and causes salvation to flourish? And You are certain to revive the dead. Blessed are You, Oh LORD who revives the dead!
Imagine how earnestly they were praying this three times a day for the last three days! I would not be surprised if they had just said this blessing when He showed up! What is incredible is they had been saying this prayer three times a day for the last several hundred years. The Hebrew word for salvation is Yeshua! At the end of this prayer, you will see the phrase how God causes salvation to flourish. The Hebrew word translated as flourish could be translated as “resurrect.” So, in this prayer, the phrase is that God is the One who causes Yeshua to resurrect!
There are so many stories from Acts to Revelation that make the Bible come to life when you discover them. You can download this entire prayer for free from our website. If you want to discover more phenomenal insights go to our website at www.esm.us
Pastor Mark Biltz is the founder of El Shaddai Ministries, and every weekend livestreams his messages to over 200 cities in twenty nations. He has spoken in over 20 nations and authored several best-selling books such as “Decoding the Antichrist” and “Decoding Jeremiah.”
