#DailyDevotion Are You Praying Or Wishing?
Mark 5:27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease…32And he looked around to see who had done it. 33But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
Sometimes our faith is more active when we have nothing to lose. We have this woman who for twelve years had a flow of blood. This would have made her unclean. In such a state she couldn’t go to the temple to worship or to offer up sacrifices. She couldn’t touch other people or be touched (if they didn’t want to go through the rituals of becoming clean). She had spent lots of money on doctors and they had made her situation worse. She heard reports about Jesus and that was enough to give her faith, faith unto salvation and faith to receive healing. You have to have saving faith first before you can have miraculous faith but you don’t necessarily have miraculous faith when you have saving faith. Saving faith is more important.
Never the less she had faith Jesus could and would heal her. She believed she only needed to touch his garment to be healed. She did and she was healed. This takes us to the subject of prayer. Most of our prayers are wishful thinking and not prayers at all. We may believe God can do what we ask but we don’t believe God will do what we ask. We might as well be throwing coins into a fountain or well. We approach the Father of lights double minded. James in his epistle tells us if we pray with doubt we should expect to receive anything from God.
In order to stir up our faith Jesus has given us promises. Ask and you shall receive. Mat 21:21-22 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. (22) And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” Joh 15:16 “… I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” Joh 16:23-24 “In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. (24) Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
Jesus called this woman daughter. She has been brought back into the family of God. Jesus tells her her faith has healed saved/healed her. Her faith first and foremost saved her but in that salvation it delivered her from her disease. She believed and did not doubt could and would heal her. God answers all prayers prayed in faith with yes. He will answer them in the manner, time, form, amount and the like that is best for us when we pray with faith in Christ promises. Do not doubt and do not wish, but believe.
Gracious Father, you Son Jesus Christ has given great and wonderful promises concerning prayer. Give us your Holy Spirit that we may pray with faith and not doubt so we too may receive from you all good things. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.