Good Intentions
By Grant Gaines
Have you ever wondered why Jesus healed some people and not others? I mean, there was almost always a huge crowd following Him around and all of them must have, in one way or another, pleaded with the Son of God to take away their infirmities. And yet, Jesus didn’t heal everyone – only some.
Why does God answer some prayers and not others? Another great question that all of us have likely asked in frustration after one of our prayers does not get answered the way we desire. James 4:2-3 (NIV) says, “…You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” So there are two possible reasons for why your prayers aren’t answered in the affirmative. But what if you are praying according to God’s will for God’s glory and you still aren’t having your prayers answered, what’s the problem there? Let’s look at the story of the Sick Woman found in Luke 8 to give us some insight to this question.
As we study this story in the three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) we begin by learning that Jesus was headed to Jairus’s (a ruler of the synagogue) house to heal his daughter who was on her deathbed. Apparently Jesus had already made quite a name for Himself because as He was walking to heal Jairus’s daughter, a crowd quickly gathered around Him. But this wasn’t just your usual Saturday morning Wal-Mart crowd, this crowd was so big that we read, “…As Jesus was on His way, the crowds almost crushed Him” (Luke 8:42, NIV, italics mine).
Like a rock star being mobbed by a bunch of wild groupies, Jesus was surrounded on all sides. You can almost picture the men, women, and children all elbowing their way to get a close up glimpse of the Man who had already raised the dead (Luke 7:11-17), calmed the sea (Luke 8:22-25), and cast out demons (Luke 8:26-39).
As all of this commotion was going on, Jesus suddenly stopped dead in His tracks seemingly out of nowhere and asked the question, “Who touched Me?” (Luke 8:45, NIV).
“Who touched you, Jesus? Um, everyone is touching You…don’t you feel the crowd pressing against You on all sides?” must have been the thought that was running through the disciples’ minds as Jesus asked this question. And as was typically the case, Peter was the first disciple to offer up a verbal expression of what the disciples were all thinking as he said to Jesus, “…Master, the people are crowding around and pressing You” (Luke 8:45, NIV). In other words, everyone is touching You!
But Jesus wasn’t satisfied with this generic, “Everyone is touching you” answer so He pressed further by saying, “…Someone deliberately touched Me, for I felt healing power go out from Me.” (Luke 8:46, NLT). At this point you can imagine a great hush falling over the crowd as nervous eyes began to dart back and forth as the great multitude, many of which had certainly touched Jesus, began to wonder if it was them whom Jesus was talking about.
Then breaking the awkward silence was a woman who fell at Jesus’s feet, “…trembling with fear…” (Mark 5:33, NIV) as she confessed that she was the one who had touched Him. But unlike the rest of the crowd who was just mindlessly reaching out for Jesus, this lady explained that she had been subject to bleeding for 12 straight years but after touching the edge of Jesus’s cloak, she was healed instantly (Luke 8:46-47).
Certainly fearing the worst, the lady prepared for a rebuke when her ears were delightfully anointed with the refreshing words of Christ Jesus as He gently said to her, “…Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” (Luke 8:48, NIV).
Now we could unpack this passage of Scripture in a handful of ways but I want to ask you a question: Why did Jesus respond to this lady’s touch and not the touch of the rest of the crowd? What made this woman’s touch so special?
To find our answer, let’s look at the same story using the different and unique angle that Mark offers us in Mark 5:24-34. Mark’s account of the story is very similar, but the author adds one additional piece of information that helps us piece the puzzle together.
We know from this story’s account in Luke that the woman was healed because she touched Jesus, but what made her think to touch Jesus in the first place? Mark 5:27-28 (NIV) gives us some insight – “When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His cloak, because she thought, ’If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed.’”
I would argue that the reason Jesus healed this lady was because she reached out with faith and expectation. Unlike the rest of the crowd who was just touching Jesus, Jesus Himself says that this woman touched Him deliberately (Luke 8:46) and in faith (Luke 8:48).
I believe this story gives us an important insight into prayer – God honors our pleas whenever we call out to Him in faith believing that He will do what He promised to do.
But here’s the problem, many people call out to God, but they don’t do so with the same eager expectation that this lady had. Many people pray, but there is no belief that the God who can, “…do exceedingly more than we can ask or imagine…” (Ephesians 3:20, NIV) will actually answer their requests. This is the mentality of the crowd who was pressing against Jesus.
But time and time again throughout Scripture, particularly the Gospels, we read of a God who responds to the genuine, faith-filled requests of His children. In fact, 19 of Jesus’s 31 healings recorded in Scripture were a direct result of the person’s faith in Christ’s ability to answer their appeal.
Which of the two boats do you fall into when it comes to prayer? Are you like the crowd who is simply going through the motions of reaching out to God or are you like the lady who reached out to the Healer in intentional faith, just as He desires us to? Remember, of all the people who were reaching out to Jesus, only one was healed – the one who reached out in faith. Which one are you?
“In the morning, LORD, You hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait expectantly.”
Psalms 5:3 (NIV, bold mine)
Comments? Questions? Suggestions?
©Grant Gaines 2013


