Pat Brandon writes:
‘When we found that the healing service planned for Thursday 19th March 
would have to be cancelled, Julia asked me, since I was set to lead the service, if I had any written thoughts that might help us in the matter. So here are some of the points that I had in mind to share.
Jesus told us in Mark chapter 4 verse 24 to “Take heed what you hear”. In Romans 10 verse 17 Paul tells us that “Faith comes by hearing the word of God”. Maybe the words of Jesus will make more sense if we consider the opposite of what Paul tells us. If hearing the word of God will produce faith in us, what will be produced in us if we hear the word of the world, or of the devil? If we only hear what is reported in the news it might be that rather than faith being produced in our hearts and minds we might find fear taking root and growing. In a sense, fear is the opposite of faith, and fear is currently showing itself to be more infectious than any virus! If fear grows in us it can quickly stifle whatever faith we may have had.
Faith is a confidence in a good outcome. Fear is a dread of a bad one.
Of course we must be alert to the reality around us and not simply try to ignore it – we must be careful and wise. But in these days of “panic buying” and “fake news” surely the instruction of Jesus is very relevant. “Take heed what you hear!” And at the very least make sure you hear what God has to say on the matter! Remember Job’s words in Job 3:25. “What I feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me”. I read somewhere that this is recognised as a genuine phenomenon – we seem to be able to attract bad things to us through fear of them. Let’s build up our faith by drawing closer to the Lord by reading and listening to His word!’