Extreme Praying
Today’s Verse:
And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. ~Mark 5:34
Perhaps, one of the most difficult experiences in life is be diagnosed with a medical disorder that no doctor or known medicine is able to treat. The person with the disorder will do anything extreme if it means he can be made whole, or healed, of his disorder. Our devotion this morning is about a woman who encountered this type of situation and is an example of someone who had an extreme faith.
We see this woman and her identity.
We know nothing about her name. Throughout this account, her name is not given to us. In her anonymity, she represents scores of people who have critical problems and whom nobody knows about. It might seem that she is forgotten and not important. However, the fact that she is recorded here in Scripture is a reminder to me that no one is anonymous to God. Everyone has an identity that God cares about and does not forget.
We see this woman and her insecurity.
She sought out every doctor that she could to treat her disorder, but she was none the better. She spent up everything that she had for the hope that she could be healed of her disease. No doctor or treatment available could make her well. Her hope was fading. Her options appeared to be dried up. Her situation was looking bleak and without hope. She woke up every day and went to bed every night wondering how much worse her situation could become.
We see this woman and her insight.
She hears that Jesus has come to her town. She has heard of His miraculous exploits. She hears of the blind being able to see, those who are terminally ill getting back their heath, and many impossible situations becoming possibilities through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Her hearing leads to faith. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” She has heard enough to develop the insight that only Jesus can make her whole of her incurable disorder.
We see this woman and her initiative.
There is a large crowd of people around Jesus. She thinks that she is nobody of importance and cannot get an audience with Jesus. She decides that if she can just touch the hem of His garment, then she can be healed. She knows that Jesus is coming her way and that her only hope is to get close enough so that she can touch His garment and be healed. This woman exercises extreme faith. Extreme faith takes the necessary steps and initiative in order to see God do what we cannot. It is a rare kind of faith that determines that it must reach out and touch the Savior so that His power can make her well.
We see this woman and the impossible.
Jesus knows that virtue has gone out of Him. Of all the people thronging Him, He knows that she is the only one who had faith to touch His garment for her well-being. She is healed! Her issue of blood, or hemorrhaging, is immediately dried up. The impossible has occurred! A miracle has occurred in her body. She is made whole of the disease.
We see this woman and her initiation.
She not only finds healing through Jesus: she finds a home through Him. “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole.” She had faith to believe that Jesus would take care of her. Simultaneous with her healing, she becomes a child of God. She is saved. She is forgiven. She is transformed and changed. She is brought into the family of God.
Extreme faith changes everything for us. Don’t settle for anything less than an extreme faith: a faith that holds tightly and trusts God to do the impossible.
Have a faith-stretched God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: 1 Chronicles 12-14