40 Days of Prayer - Thursday, June 20 - Devotion 24 - Touching His Hem - Scott Gardner

Touching His Hem

Mark 5:24-29 (ESV)

And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

 Wherever Jesus went, the people flocked to see Him. In Mark chapter 5, the crowds have thronged around Him, jostling each other to see or even perhaps speak to Him. Imagine the noise and the chaos as they press closer and closer. Also see a woman who has suffered for many years gradually working her way through the crowd, slowly getting closer to Jesus. “If I can only touch Him, I will be made well!” She finally is able to reach out and touch his clothing, and she is healed. Jesus confronts her and then says, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

This is an amazing story isn’t it? However, in some ways, it is a very sad story as well. This woman had spent the past twelve years visiting doctors who could not help her. She had lost all her savings and had found no relief. Then she turned to Jesus and immediately found the help she so desperately needed. Jesus was this woman’s last resort. She had tried everything else first.

Unfortunately, we often do the same. When we find ourselves in difficulty, it is so easy to run to our friends for comfort and advice, or to browse the bookshelf for the latest best-seller before we ever turn to God.

Is prayer your last resort? Do you try everything else and then ask God for His help? Where do you turn when the worries of the world press in on you from every side? Are you determined to get closer to Jesus and ask for His help? Prayer should be our first reaction in every situation. Jesus says that we do not have because we do not ask (James 4:2). In other words, “Don’t waste your time seeking help from the world, come to Me and ask Me for help, and I will answer you.”

Proverbs 18:10 (ESV)

The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.