Related to Ben's preaching on Sunday. I found a piece of paper placed at this page in my bible from a session we did in Sunday school a while ago.
Luke 8:43-56 (The Message - taken from www.biblegateway.com)
43-45In the crowd that day there was a woman who for twelve years had been afflicted with hemorrhages. She had spent every penny she had on doctors but not one had been able to help her. She slipped in from behind and touched the edge of Jesus' robe. At that very moment her hemorrhaging stopped. Jesus said, "Who touched me?"
When no one stepped forward, Peter said, "But Master, we've got crowds of people on our hands. Dozens have touched you."
46Jesus insisted, "Someone touched me. I felt power discharging from me."
47When the woman realized that she couldn't remain hidden, she knelt trembling before him. In front of all the people, she blurted out her story—why she touched him and how at that same moment she was healed.
48Jesus said, "Daughter, you took a risk trusting me, and now you're healed and whole. Live well, live blessed!"
49While he was still talking, someone from the leader's house came up and told him, "Your daughter died. No need now to bother the Teacher."
50-51Jesus overheard and said, "Don't be upset. Just trust me and everything will be all right." Going into the house, he wouldn't let anyone enter with him except Peter, John, James, and the child's parents.
52-53Everyone was crying and carrying on over her. Jesus said, "Don't cry. She didn't die; she's sleeping." They laughed at him. They knew she was dead.
54-56Then Jesus, gripping her hand, called, "My dear child, get up." She was up in an instant, up and breathing again! He told them to give her something to eat. Her parents were ecstatic, but Jesus warned them to keep quiet. "Don't tell a soul what happened in this room."
As Ben was saying we need to approach God and ask for his help in the problems that we have, whatever these are. If we need more patience, we need to pray for more patience, if we need more grace we need to pray for more grace, for more faith we need to pray for more faith (and so on).
We need to be like the woman with hemorrhages who approached Jesus and because of doing so was healed and not like the person from the leaders house believing there is no point in approaching God because it is too late or for whatever other reason.
Whatever the problem is just approach God in prayer, ask for forgiveness for whatever you may have done and ask for His help to sort the problem out. Without God our problems can be far too daunting to deal with but with God these problems will become manageable.
Snap Shots
3 comments:
I was just reading the same story (from Matthew) this week myself. I particularly like the fact that the woman would have been a social outcast (unclean) and yet she took the risk.
Gareth
Yeah James, thats brill, very appropraite. You know, sometimes we look at this stuf and think but i dont deserve it, like going out for prayer and alsorts like that, 'but i dont deserve it'. And really looking at it with human eyes, no we dont but the point is god wants to give us these things and lavish his love upon us but half of the time we dont let him in, like you said gareth, sometimes we need to 'take the risk' and just do stuff that we may sometimes feel uncomforatable with or feel we dont deserve.
God wants to give us more and more and more. God's cup is overflowing and he wants to share it with us. We just have to tell God that we want more.
It is the same with you. Now you are sad, but I will see you again and you will be happy, and no one will take away your joy. In that day you will not ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you anything you ask for in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy will be the fullest possible joy. - John 16:22-24
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