THE POWER OF A TOUCH! (MATTHEW 9:20-22; LUKE 8:43-48)

         1. As Jesus taught the multitudes by the Sea of Galilee, a prominent leader of the local synagogue named Jairus came pushing through the crowd, and falling down before Him, pleaded for Jesus to heal his little daughter. "She's at the point of death!" he cried in desperation! "Please, come and TOUCH her and make her LIVE!"
         2. Jesus, full of compassion, agreed to go with him, and the crowd pressed behind Him. In the midst of the throng was a woman who had been sick for 12 years with a terrible bleeding haemorrhage. All this time she had gone from one doctor to another, but never with any success. She'd spent every bit of her money on doctors' bills and suffered much from all their treatments, but still the bleeding continued.
         3. Desperate, the woman thought, "Oh, if I could only TOUCH Him, I KNOW I could be healed!" Then, seeing Jesus afar off, she began anxiously making her way towards Him. It wasn't easy to get through the pushing, shoving mob of onlookers who were trying to get close to Jesus, but that one thought compelled her: She had to TOUCH Him, even if only the hem of His garment!
         4. Finally she came within reach, and stretching out her hand she was able to barely TOUCH His robe with her fingertips. No sooner had she touched Him than the bleeding stopped completely! A warm and wonderful feeling of health and well-being swept through her body and she knew that after all these years of pain and suffering, she was healed at last! Jesus paused for a moment, having felt that healing POWER had gone out from Him. Turning to the crowd He asked, "Who touched Me?" His disciples looked at Him with astonishment, saying, "With all this great crowd pressing around You, You ask who TOUCHED You?" But Jesus, knowing already who had touched Him, smiled and silently, knowingly turned to look upon the astonished woman.
         5. Still trembling at the realisation of what had happened, she came and fell at His feet, telling Him what had happened to her. And Jesus lovingly, tenderly as a father would speak to his child, said to her, "Daughter, thy FAITH has made thee WHOLE! Go in peace and be healed of your disease." Jesus was making it clear to all the crowd that touching His clothes was not what had healed the woman, but it was "her FAITH in Him that had made her whole"!
         6. That woman had put her tiny grain of faith into action, and the result has echoed throughout the centuries: "Thy FAITH hath made thee WHOLE!"
         7. There is a lesson to be learned from this story which we can APPLY to OUR lives NOW, today. Though many people thronged about Jesus, why was it that only ONE received that powerful healing touch from God? Many had gone to see Jesus out of mere curiosity, they were more interested in the sight of the man. Yet this woman, as soon as she heard of Him, BELIEVED in her heart that He could really help her, when all else had failed. So she pressed toward Him, full of faith, never giving up until she made that divine CONTACT with the Lord!
         8. What an illustration of how PRAYER works! It's not how LONG you pray or how MUCH you pray, but how much you BELIEVE! It's like tuning in a radio station on your receiver. When you finally make the right contact, the signal booms in loud and clear and strong! Prayer is making contact between our human needs and God's divine resources. All we're doing when we pray is presenting our need and BELIEVING that God will do it. And if you are doing your best to trust the Lord and follow His Word, He will help you in your hour of need!
         9. Anything wonderful can happen in that little margin of time when you don't give up, but keep on believing and keep on pray ing! That frail sickly woman had only enough strength to draw close to Jesus, but when she ACTED on her little seed of faith, she made contact with the Lord.
         10. What a blessing it is when we learn to contact God's power through prayer. It is a spiritual seeking of that contact with His Spirit through OBEDIENCE to the Word of God that gets results!
         11. It's a shame that so many Christians today find their faith stronger in the men of medicine than in the Great Physician Himself, Jesus Christ. Actually, they haven't lost FAITH, but they've just TRANSFERRED that faith to the MEDICAL profession! It's not that doctors are bad, but they are not always necessary, or cannot help.
         12. So often one will run to the medicine cabinet for one little ailment, ache or pain, without even considering that a simple prayer of faith could save them all that trouble! Even for a little HEADACHE, just a little faith in God can HEAL you! There's nothing wrong with taking an aspirin, but why not give God a chance? PRAY that you may be healed, and He can not only HEAL you, but He can even show you what CAUSED it and how to avoid it or correct it!
         13. One of the greatest of healing factors is FAITH, to know that God LOVES you and is going to take care of you no matter what happens. And did you know that faith not only heals, but it eliminates one of the greatest causes of disease and ill health?--And that is fear and tension!
         14. God is very willing to HEAL you and HELP you WHENEVER you need it! All you have to do is ASK! He says, "I am the God of all flesh; is there ANYTHING too hard for Me?" (Jeremiah 32:37) Jesus said, "If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, you can ask what you will and it shall be done unto you!" (John 15:7) Have you asked the Lord for His healing power in your life?

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         15. Prayer is not only CHEAPER than medicine, but it is SURER too!
         16. TRUSTING GOD for your healing keeps you close to the LORD, but trusting the DOCTOR for healing keeps you close to the DOCTOR --and BROKE!
         17. Jesus MADE us, so He can FIX us!

Copyright 1996 The Family