Help for Desperate People

HELP FOR DESPERATE PEOPLE

(Christian Standard Bible)

Mark 5:25–34 CSB

Now a woman suffering from bleeding for twelve years had endured much under many doctors. She had spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse. Having heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothing. For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I’ll be made well.” Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was healed of her affliction. At once Jesus realized in himself that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” His disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing against you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” But he was looking around to see who had done this. The woman, with fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. “Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be healed from your affliction.”

Desperation is all around us. The simplest definition of desperation is “a state of despair” and despair means “the complete loss or the absence of hope”. If you have been on the earth of any length of time you’ve probably heard the phrase “Desperate times calls for desperate measures” and that phrase is used to suggest that in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected under normal conditions may become the best choice.

Oftentimes we are quick to judge individuals for making certain decisions that we do not agree with, but the truth is many of us have never been in that situation before, so we don’t know how we would respond. We frown upon women who dance in the strip club and use their bodies in ways that will be left up to your imagination, but

What would you do if your son was at home

Crying all alone on the bedroom floor, 'cause he's hungry

And the only way to feed him is ta sleep with a man

For a little bit of money

How would you respond if you grew up in poverty and you do not know where your next meal is coming from and the only way that you can assure that you, your mom, and your five siblings will have food on the kitchen table at night is sale drugs on the corner of the neighborhood convenience store because you don’t have a father in the home to provide for you?

How would you respond if you grew up in a country that had poor healthcare, poor education, high crime rates, water shortages and government officials that made it a law to persecute you for conforming to a religion contrary to the one they adopted?

What would you do if your bank account was empty, your car is in the process of being repossessed and your house was on the brink of foreclosure and the only way that you could escape this devastation is to lie on your taxes with the hope of receiving a substantial amount of money to cover all of your worries?

How would you respond if you were left in a state of desperation because life dealt you a bad hand? Hopefully none of you in here today have been faced with these kinds of situations before, but someone, somewhere around the world is in a situation like this or in a similar situation.

How would you respond if you were left in a state of desperation because life dealt you a bad hand? Hopefully none of you in here today have been faced with these kinds of situations before, but someone, somewhere around the world is in a situation like this or in a similar situation. People who are desperate often make decisions that go against their moral standards and societal norms because most of the time all they want to do is survive. It is human nature for us to do whatever we have to do in order to survive and this was the case for our character in the text this morning.

According to an article in The New York Times, citizens living in China are faced with a dilemma. The Chinese government is heavily regulated so many pharmaceutical drugs that would be beneficial to help families fight against cancer have not been approved. Many of the citizens do not have the income to afford the expensive, ineffective treatment offered so they feel forced to break the law to give themselves and their family members a fighting chance. Law abiding citizens have to illegally and blindly shop for pharmaceutical ingredients online that have not been approved by the government and are forced to concoct their own medicine with not medical background the hope of curing their disease.

If you have never heard of desperate individuals before, you are about to hear of some today. The fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark is an interesting chapter to me because the author writes this chapter in such a way to suggests that Jesus performed three miracles in one day. The first miracle that Jesus performed was casting out possibly thousands of demons from a man and restoring him to his right mind. The third miracle that Jesus performs in this text is the rising of Jairus’ twelve-year-old daughter from the dead. Then there is the second miracle, the one we are going to discuss today. Allow me to introduce you to this woman.

People who are desperate often make decisions that go against their moral standards and societal norms because all they want to do is survive. It is human nature for us to do whatever we have to do in order to survive and this was the case for our character in the text this morning.

Today we are encountering an unnamed woman who is suffering from an issue of blood for twelve, long years. She didn’t suffer with this issue for twelve seconds, minutes, hours, days nor weeks, but for twelve, long, excruciating years. Now I don’t know about you, but twelve years is a long time to suffer from anything and this woman constantly suffered the loss of blood for twelve, long years. Now it gets more interesting when we discover that because she is suffering with this issue, according to Levitical law, she is deemed what they knew as unclean and everyone she came in contact with would too be unclean. (CSB) says: “When a woman has a discharge, and it consists of blood from her body, she will be unclean because of her menstruation for seven days. Everyone who touches her will be unclean until evening. Because she is deemed unclean, she is exiled from her family and her community, so naturally she is going to do whatever it takes to get better. The text says she literally spend every penny that she had on physicians to fix her situation, but nothing could be done about it. In fact, the text says that she endured much under the care of these physicians and instead of her getting better, she actually grew worse.

I really want you to feel the tension in this text because the bible says that she endured much under the care of these doctors. Because this woman suffered from an issue of blood for twelve years, word probably got around to the other doctors about her condition and it’s a strong possibly that she was taken advantage of. It’s a strong possibly that these doctors were telling her something to make her believe that whatever they were doing could possibly make her better. As a result of these doctors taking advantage of her, she endured psychological, emotional and physical damage and she literally became worse as the years passed by.

Imagine being in a situation where you are constantly losing blood, which means that you are losing strength each day, for twelve long years. Imagine that you are in a situation where you are literally losing your life because you are losing a lot of blood for twelve, long years. Imagine that you are left helpless, bankrupt, alienated from your family and friends and confused for twelve, long years. What would you do? Being in that type of situation would leave the average person in a state of desperation, meaning that all hope would be loss because literally everything that they could possibly do in order to become better has failed them.

If you have never heard of desperate individuals before, you are about to hear of some today. The fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark is an interesting chapter to me because the author writes this chapter in such a way to suggests that Jesus performed three miracles in one day. The first miracle that Jesus performed was casting out possibly thousands of demons from a man and restoring him to his right mind. The third miracle that Jesus performs in this text is the rising of Jairus’ twelve-year-old daughter from the dead. Then there is the second miracle, the one we are going to discuss today. Allow me to introduce you to this woman.

I want to argue one main point this morning and the point is: if you desperately want your issue to change, your faith must be in Jesus and Jesus alone because He has the power to heal any issue.

Today we are encountering an unnamed woman who is suffering from an issue of blood for twelve, long years. She didn’t suffer with this issue for twelve seconds, minutes, hours, days nor weeks, but for twelve, long, excruciating years. Now I don’t know about you, but twelve years is a long time to suffer from anything and this woman constantly suffered the loss of blood for twelve, long years. Now it gets more interesting when we discover that because she is suffering with this issue, according to Levitical law, she is deemed what they knew as unclean and everything and everyone she encountered would be unclean as well.

Leviticus 15:19 CSB

“When a woman has a discharge, and it consists of blood from her body, she will be unclean because of her menstruation for seven days. Everyone who touches her will be unclean until evening.

Because she is deemed unclean, she is forced to be exiled from her family and her community. Her story gets even more interesting when we discover in the text that she literally spends every penny that she had on physicians to fix her situation, but nothing could be done about it. In fact, the text says that she endured much under the care of these physicians and instead of her getting better, she grew worse.

(CSB) says: “When a woman has a discharge, and it consists of blood from her body, she will be unclean because of her menstruation for seven days. Everyone who touches her will be unclean until evening.

Because she is deemed unclean, she is forced to be exiled from her family and her community. Her story gets even more interesting when we discover in the text that she literally spends every penny that she had on physicians to fix her situation, but nothing could be done about it. In fact, the text says that she endured much under the care of these physicians and instead of her getting better, she grew worse.

I really want you to feel the tension in this text because the bible says that she endured much under the care of these doctors. Because this woman suffered from an issue of blood for twelve years, word probably got around to the other doctors about her condition and it’s a strong possibly that she was taken advantage of. It’s a strong possibly that these doctors were telling her something to make her believe that whatever they were doing could possibly make her better. Because of these doctors taking advantage of her, she endured psychological, emotional and physical damage and she progressively became worse as the years passed by.

I. TRANSFER YOUR FAITH TO JESUS

Imagine being in a situation where you are constantly losing strength every day for twelve long years. Imagine that you are living a life where you are getting closer to your grave every day for twelve, long years. Imagine that you are left helpless, bankrupt, alienated from your family and friends and confused for twelve, long years. What would you do? Being in that type of situation would leave the average person in a state of desperation because literally everything that they could possibly do to become better has failed them.

I want to argue one main point this morning and the point is: if you desperately want your issue to change, your faith must be in Jesus because He has the power to heal any issue.

We see evidence that this lady’s faith was transferred to Jesus in verses 27-28. says: 27 Having heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothing. 28 For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I’ll be made well.”

The first step that desperate people must take if they want to receive help is they must transfer their faith to Jesus.

This woman did everything she knew to do in her power before she heard about Jesus, but when she heard of Jesus, she decided that the only way to go from there was to Him. What we do as believer’s today is we know about Him already, yet we make Him our last resort. What would our situations look like if we had taken our issue to Jesus before we tried everything else? This woman’s faith transferred from the physicians and her finances to Jesus when she heard about Him. In spite of her being in what seems to be a helpless and hopeless situation, she decides that she’s going to transfer her faith to someone she’s heard many wonderful stories about. One of the questions I want to know is, “Which story or stories gave her hope about her future and how long did she have to hear them?”

§ Mark Chapter One

I. TRANSFER YOUR FAITH TO JESUS

o Unclean spirit from a man

o Healed Simon Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever

We see evidence that this lady’s faith was transferred to Jesus in verses 27-28.

Mark 5:27–28 CSB

Having heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothing. For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I’ll be made well.”

This woman did everything she knew to do in her power before she heard about Jesus, but when she heard of Jesus, she decided that the only way to go from there was to Him. What we do as believer’s today is we know about Him already, yet we still make Him our last resort. What would our situations look like if we had taken our issue to Jesus before we tried everything else? This woman’s faith transferred from the physicians and her finances to Jesus when she heard about Him. In spite of her being in what seems to be a helpless and hopeless situation, she decides that she’s going to transfer her faith to someone she’s heard many wonderful truths about. One of the questions I want to know is, “Which story or stories gave her hope about her future and how long did she have to hear them?”

says: 27 Having heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothing. 28 For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I’ll be made well.”

This woman did everything she knew to do in her power before she heard about Jesus, but when she heard of Jesus, she decided that the only way to go from there was to Him. What we do as believer’s today is we know about Him already, yet we still make Him our last resort. What would our situations look like if we had taken our issue to Jesus before we tried everything else? This woman’s faith transferred from the physicians and her finances to Jesus when she heard about Him. In spite of her being in what seems to be a helpless and hopeless situation, she decides that she’s going to transfer her faith to someone she’s heard many wonderful truths about. One of the questions I want to know is, “Which story or stories gave her hope about her future and how long did she have to hear them?”

o Healed a man with leprosy

§ Mark Chapter Two

§ Mark Chapter One

o Was it the story about Jesus casting out an unclean spirit from a man?

o Healed a paralytic man

§ Mark Chapter Three

o Was it the story about how he grabbed the hand of Peter’s mother-in-law and she was healed of her fever?

o Was it the story of how he healed a man with leprosy (another unclean person)?

o Healed a man with a shrived hand

o People gathered around Him in hopes that they too could touch Him and be healed (v.10)

§ Mark Chapter Two

§ Mark Chapter Four

o Was is the story about Him healing a paralytic man?

§ Mark Chapter Three

o Calmed a storm

Just as this woman heard some wonderful miracles performed by Jesus, we too have heard some wonderful miracles Jesus.

o Was it the story about Him healing a man with a shrived hand?

o Was it the story about people gathering around Him in hopes that they too could touch Him and be healed (v.10)?

§ We’ve heard how Jesus has healed people of cancer and various diseases

§ Mark Chapter Four

§ We’ve heard how Jesus has healed people who suffered with depression

§ We’ve heard how Jesus has healed people with broken hearts

o Was it the story of how He calmed a storm?

One of the sad realities of life is that people still fail to place their faith in Jesus after hearing of all the amazing miracles He has done.

Just as this woman heard some wonderful miracles performed by Jesus, we too have heard some wonderful miracles performed by Jesus.

§ We’ve heard how Jesus has healed people of cancer and various diseases

It breaks my heart to know that people are still trying to control their anxiety outside of Jesus when says, “Don’t be anxious for anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

§ We’ve heard how Jesus has healed people who suffered with depression

It breaks my heart to know that people are still trying to battle addiction outside of Jesus when says: No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

This woman transferred her faith to the fact that she would be made well if she could just get to Jesus and touch His garments. Can’t you hear the desperation in his woman’s voice? Can’t you hear the anticipation of relief she would experience if she could just get to Jesus? She knows that everything would be okay if she could just get to Jesus, but there is an issue she must overcome. The issue that this woman is now facing is she must somehow maneuver her way through the crowd without making everyone else unclean. The woman is literally faced with a life or death situation. Does she continue to suffer and die at the risk of not wanting to inconvenience anyone else or does she press through the crowd to possibly receive her healing? Her level of desperation made her determined to do whatever she had to do to get to Jesus.

§ We’ve heard how Jesus has healed people with broken hearts

One of the sad realities of life is that people still fail to place their faith in Jesus after hearing of all the amazing miracles He has done.

It breaks my heart to know that people are still trying to control their anxiety outside of Jesus when

Most of you can identify with this woman in saying that you’ve been determined to receive something before, so you did whatever it took because you believed in your heart of hearts that it would make your situation better. “If only I could get my hands on a winning lottery ticket, then I’ll never have to go to work again and deal with this crazy boss of mine.” So, you drive to the Georgia state line during church hours because you’re believing that the winning ticket belongs to you. “If only could find a husband, then all of my lonely days would come to an end.” So, you bar hop every Friday and Saturday night because you believe that one day you’ll meet your Prince Charming. “If only I could get an extra one thousand dollars at tax season, then I’d be able to pay off my credit cards.” So, you lie and claim other people’s children on your income tax because the government owes you more money anyway.

says, “Don’t be anxious for anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:6–7 NKJV

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

says, “Don’t be anxious for anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

It breaks my heart to know that people are still trying to battle addiction outside of Jesus when

You can just feel every ounce of strength this woman uses as she is making her way to Jesus. She’s at the brink of losing her life, but she’s determined to get to the Giver of Life.

It breaks my heart to know that people are still trying to battle addiction outside of Jesus when says: No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Romans 8:37 CSB

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

says: No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

This woman transferred her faith to the fact that she would be made well if she could just get to Jesus and touch His garments. Can’t you hear the desperation in his woman’s voice? Can’t you hear the anticipation of relief she would experience if she could just get to Jesus? She knows that everything would be okay if she could just get to Jesus, but there is an issue she must overcome. The issue that this woman is now facing is she must somehow maneuver her way through the crowd without making everyone else unclean. The woman is literally faced with a life or death situation. Does she continue to suffer and die at the risk of not wanting to inconvenience anyone else or does she break the law and press through the crowd to receive her healing? Her level of desperation made her determined to do whatever she had to do to get to Jesus.

Hope that is not placed in Jesus can lead to disappointments but hope that is placed in Jesus will lead to your deliverance.

This woman transferred her faith to the fact that she would be made well if she could just get to Jesus and touch His garments. Can’t you hear the desperation in his woman’s voice? Can’t you hear the anticipation of relief she would experience if she could just get to Jesus? She knows that everything would be okay if she could just get to Jesus, but there is an issue she must overcome. The issue that this woman is now facing is she must somehow maneuver her way through the crowd without making everyone else unclean. The woman is literally faced with a life or death situation. Does she continue to suffer and die at the risk of not wanting to inconvenience anyone else or does she break the law and press through the crowd to receive her healing? Her level of desperation made her determined to do whatever she had to do to get to Jesus.

II. FAITH IN JESUS ACTIVATES HIS POWER

Most of you can identify with this woman in doing whatever you have to do to make your situation better.

Simply touching the clothes of Jesus did not active Jesus’ power. Her faith was the agent that gave her the healing she was hoping for. This woman’s faith literally stopped Jesus in His tracks because He knew that this was not an ordinary touch. He knew in His body that power had left him His because His power was activated by this woman’s faith. The issue that this woman battled for twelve, long years was cured in less that twelve seconds because she had that kind of faith.

· Lottery ticket will heal financial issues = drive to the state line

The bible does not specifically quantify the level of faith that this woman possessed (because He said “your faith”) which suggests to you and me that all of us have different levels of faith. There are different levels of faith that all of us find ourselves in and I’ll let you determine based off these definitions which level of faith you think you find yourself in and which level of faith this woman is commended for having.

· A man will heal your emptiness and loneliness = bar hop every Friday and Saturday night

A. Levels of Faith

1. No Faith

· Secure your dream job = “tweak” your resume and lie on application

a. No faith is self-explanatory, but it is when you do not have faith in Jesus at all; however, you have faith in other things. (Horoscope, money, intellect, people)

You can just feel every ounce of strength this woman uses as she is making her way to Jesus. She’s at the brink of losing her life, but she’s determined to get to the Giver of Life. This woman was willing to transfer her faith to Jesus because she realized that faith that is not placed in Jesus will lead to disappointments but faith that is placed in Jesus will lead to your deliverance.

It’s important to know that your faith must be transferred to Jesus, but you must realize that it’s your faith that will active His power.

2. Little/Weak Faith

a. Little/Weak faith is you having faith in Jesus, but you cannot experience the power of God nor experience intimacy with Him because you are always doubting Him. Jesus often rebuked this kind of faith in the scriptures.

II. FAITH IN JESUS ACTIVATES HIS POWER

New King James Version (NKJV)

Simply touching the clothes of Jesus did not active Jesus’ power. Her faith was the agent that gave her the healing she was hoping for. This woman’s faith literally stopped Jesus in His tracks because He knew that this was not an ordinary touch. He knew in His body that power had left him His because His power was activated by this woman’s faith. The issue that this woman battled for twelve years was cured immediately because she had that kind of faith.

31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

The bible does not specifically quantify the level of faith that this woman possessed (because He said “your faith”) which suggests to you and me that all of us have different levels of faith. There are different levels of faith that all of us find ourselves in and I’ll let you determine based off these definitions which level of faith you think you find yourself in and which level of faith this woman is commended for having.

3. Growing Faith

A. Levels of Faith

a. Growing faith is when you are steadily progressing in your measure of faith and this kind of faith pleases God; however, God does not want you to remain on your level of faith and cease to grow.

i. Daily prayer should be “Lord, increase my faith.” This prayer will place you in situations where you have no other choice but to have faith in God, but the key is that you have to actually have faith in Him so that your faith can become stronger

1. No Faith

a. No faith is self-explanatory, but it is when you do not have faith in Jesus at all; however, you have faith in other things. (Horoscope, money, intellect, people)

4. Strong/Great Faith

2. Little/Weak Faith

a. Unrelenting, totally persuaded type of faith that does not give up until the request is granted. This type of faith allows you to experience the power of God manifested in your situation and this is the kind of faith that pleases God.

a. Little/Weak faith is you having faith in Jesus, but you cannot experience the power of God nor experience intimacy with Him because you are always doubting Him. Jesus often rebuked this kind of faith in the scriptures.

New King James Version (NKJV)

28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

We do not have the right to expect anything from God if we fail to have faith.

3. Growing Faith

a. Growing faith is when you are steadily progressing in your measure of faith and this kind of faith pleases God; however, God does not want you to remain on your level of faith and cease to grow.

The Saturday before Christmas, my family came together for dinner and to exchange gifts and we had a wonderful time. All of them received different gifts that were appropriate for their age, but all of them did received a common gift, which was $3. As each child saw the gift of $3 they immediately got excited because they were $3 richer than when they came into the house. As each child receive their $3, my uncle sat on the floor and asked each child if he could invest their money. Unsurprisingly, the children started to say “No” until one child was bold enough to take him up on the offer. She only gave him $1 out of the $3 but to her surprise, he reached into his pocket and gave her back more money than what she had given him. Naturally the other children regretted that they didn’t give him any money because they saw how their cousin was now richer than them because she trusted my uncle with some money. There was one child remain who had the opportunity to give my uncle some money when he asked for it and she decided to give him all the money that she had. She was shocked to find out that he doubled her money and now she was richer than all of the other children because she decided to trust my uncle with all of her money.

i. Daily prayer should be “Lord, increase my faith.” This prayer will place you in situations where you have no other choice but to have faith in God, but the key is that you have to actually have faith in Him so that your faith can become stronger

All I am trying to tell you is that whatever level of faith that you have, invest it into Jesus so that you can receive what you are expecting Him to do. If you do not active your faith, then you do not have the right to experience the power of God in your situation.

What is your affliction? An affliction is anything that causes pain, distress, calamity or suffering. Your affliction could be psychological, spiritual, emotional or physical.

4. Strong/Great Faith

Psychological Issues

a. Strong faith is unrelenting, totally persuaded type of faith that does not give up until the request is granted. This type of faith allows you to experience the power of God manifested in your situation and this is the kind of faith that pleases God.

Matthew 15:28 NKJV

Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

New King James Version (NKJV)

§ Anxiety disorders that include: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) or Phobias (Social Disorders)

We do not have the right to expect anything from God if we fail to have faith.

§ Mood Disorders: persistent feelings of sadness or periods of feeling overly happy

28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

We do not have the right to expect anything from God if we fail to have faith.

Emotional Issues

The Saturday before Christmas, my family came together for dinner and to exchange gifts and we had a wonderful time. All of them received different gifts that were appropriate for their age, but all of them did received a common gift, which was $3. As each child saw the gift of $3 they immediately got excited because they were $3 richer than when they came into the house. As each child receive their $3, my uncle sat on the floor and asked each child if he could invest their money. Unsurprisingly, the children started to say “No” until one child was bold enough to take him up on the offer. She only gave him $1 out of the $3 but to her surprise, he reached into his pocket and gave her back more money than what she had given him. Naturally the other children regretted that they didn’t give him any money because they saw how their cousin was now richer than them because she trusted my uncle with some money. There was one child remain who had the opportunity to give my uncle some money when he asked for it and she decided to give him all the money that she had. She was shocked to find out that he doubled her money and now she was richer than all of the other children because she decided to trust my uncle with all of her money.

§ Can come and go; mild or severe

The Saturday before Christmas, my family came together for dinner and to exchange gifts and we had a wonderful time. All of them received different gifts that were appropriate for their age, but all of them did received a common gift, which was $3. As each child saw the gift of $3 they immediately got excited because they were $3 richer than when they came into the house. As each child receive their $3, my uncle sat on the floor and asked each child if he could invest their money. Unsurprisingly, the children started to say “No” until one child was bold enough to take him up on the offer. She only gave him $1 out of the $3 but to her surprise, he reached into his pocket and gave her back more money than what she had given him. Naturally the other children regretted that they didn’t give him any money because they saw how their cousin was now richer than them because she trusted my uncle with some money. There was one child remain who had the opportunity to give my uncle some money when he asked for it and she decided to give him all the money that she had. She was shocked to find out that he doubled her money and now she was richer than all of the other children because she decided to trust my uncle with all of her money.

§ Gain or lose weight, worthless or very guilty, little interest or pleasure in life, angry or hostile toward people

Spiritual Issues

What is your affliction? An affliction is anything that causes pain, distress, calamity or suffering. Your affliction could be psychological, spiritual, emotional or physical.

§ Do not know the love of God, no hope, peace, joy, unforgiveness, compassion, reconciliation

Psychological Issues

§ Anxiety disorders that include: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) or Phobias (Social Disorders)

I want you to understand this important point. There is a major difference in having faith that Jesus can do something and actually having the faith. The difference is if your faith moves from a noun to a verb. Many of us have what we know as “saving faith” which is having our soul saved from eternal damnation. On the other hand, many of us struggle with active faith which is the vehicle that will allow us to see the manifestation of what we are believing God for.

§ Mood Disorders: persistent feelings of sadness or periods of feeling overly happy

The challenge I want to issue to you and I is to move beyond conservative faith to radical faith. Conservative faith means that you will take your issue to Jesus half-heartedly so that you won’t look like a fool just in case He doesn’t change your situation. Radical faith means that you are giving everything that you have to Jesus because if He does not move, then you will forever remain in your situation. Many times, we use a cover up and pray “If it be your will” to sound really spiritual and deep but on the inside we are afraid to fully trust God because when we thought we were operating in faith in the past wasn’t really faith, but we were “hoping” in the worldly sense. This woman was not merely hoping that Jesus would change her situation, but she believed that if she simply touched His clothes, her issue was going to be healed.

Emotional Issues

§ Can come and go; mild or severe

§ Gain or lose weight, worthless or very guilty, little interest or pleasure in life, angry or hostile toward people

Spiritual Issues

§ Do not know the love of God, no hope, peace, joy, unforgiveness, compassion, reconciliation

I want you to understand this important point. There is a major difference in having faith that Jesus can do something and actually having the faith. The difference is if your faith moves from a noun to a verb. Many of us have what we know as “saving faith” which is having our soul saved from eternal damnation. On the other hand, many of us struggle with active faith which is the vehicle that will allow us to see the manifestation of what we are believing God for.

The challenge I want to issue to you and I is to move beyond conservative faith to radical faith. Conservative faith means that you will take your issue to Jesus half-heartedly so that you won’t look like a fool just in case He doesn’t change your situation. Radical faith means that you are giving everything that you have to Jesus because if He does not move, then you will forever remain in your situation. Many times, we use the cover up prayer “If it be your will” to protect ourselves because we are afraid to fully trust God. I am not arguing that we should not pray that God’s will be done, but I am saying that we do not fully come to God in faith so that we can protect our feelings and protect God’s name.

§ Not asking God to fully heal someone of a sickness

§ Not asking God for healing of mental issues

§ Not asking God for deliverance from a situation

This woman was not merely hoping that Jesus would change her situation, but she believed that if she simply touched His clothes, her issue was going to be healed and I was.

All I am trying to tell you is that whatever level of faith that you have, invest it into Jesus so that you can receive what you are expecting Him to do. If you do not active your faith, then you do not have the right to experience the power of God in your situation.