And when
the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding
country. People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick
just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed. Matthew
14: 35-36
A
large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been
subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the
care of many doctors and had spent all she had; yet instead of getting better
she grew worse. 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." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her
body that she was freed from her suffering. Mark 5:25-29
The
picture that accompanies the message today is a picture of my personal prayer
shawl. It was a gift to me and it was designed and embroidered by a Jewish
Artisan in Jerusalem, Israel.
It is not
magical, but it is biblical. I have found that when I go under my prayer shawl
during my personal prayer time, it is like I go into my personal prayer closet.
But when you pray, go away by yourself,
shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father,
who sees everything, will reward you. Matthew 6:6
If you notice, through
the reading of the New Testament, the woman touching the hem of the Messiah was
not just the act of a religious fanatic. It seemed to be that touching the hem
of the garment of Jesus was a common practice.
What we read in different
versions of the bible was that the woman touched the hem of His garment, or the
border of His garment, or the edge of His cloak, or the "fringe" of
His garment.
What was actually being
touched by the people was the fringe, or the "tzitzit" In Jewish
belief when on looks upon, or touches, the tzitzit he will remember God's
commandments and seek after the heart of God and not his own will.
This is just a brief
explanation of the "hem of His garment." You can certainly look for
more information by doing a simple Google check.
Now, if you have been
sick for a long time, or have been living with a certain unstable situation in
your life for a long time, you can understand the desperation this woman felt.
She had exhausted all her
hope; she was not welcomed among the people because she suffered from "an
issue of blood" According to strict Jewish law of the day if she even
touched other people she would render them unclean. What a sad life, with no
compassion, she must have lived. She was desperate, and somewhere down deep she
knew that her only hope was in Jesus, and that by just touching the hem of HIS
garment she would be healed.
Now it's interesting to
me that a lot of us are in the same place these days. We run from teacher to
teacher, from prophet to prophet, from ministry to ministry, looking for just
one thing to help us. Yet, the only thing that really delivers is the WORD.
Jesus is the Word turned flesh. God is the answer, Gods Holy Word, is what we
need to remember, and seeking His will and not our own "be done."
The prayer shawl reminds
me of this each and every time I put it on. It is as if, I am putting on the
Word. Then, as I do, supernatural miracles occur. Maybe, I am not healed
immediately, put I receive a feeling of divine protection. I cover myself with God and His Word,
and nothing else matters.
Sometimes I receive, and
other ministers do also, an email from a desperately hurting person who begs me
to pray for them. I always do, but I want you to know that my prayers are no
more powerful then your own.
We read the following; For there is one God and one mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5
So that means that my prayers are no more
powerful then yours, yours are no more powerful then mine. When we remember His
commandments and stay in the WORD. We all only have one person between us and
God and that is Jesus Christ. This is why we end our prayers by saying,
"In the mighty name of Jesus." Through His atoning blood we can go
right to the Throne Room of God with our own prayer requests. We are then
"touching the hem of His garment" which is all we need.
We are often insecure in who we are in the
Lord. We all, you and I are the same in God's eyes. The most prominent
Christian pastor you can think of is no more loved of God, then you or me. We
are all His precious children. He uses us all in different ways as we
"touch the hem of His garment."
Someone might be reading this and thinking,
"well, I am sick. I can't get out and minister." I say to you that is
a lie from Satan. You can be a minister to any person you come in contact with
in your life. You can minister to your doctors, to your nurses. Our mission
field is right where we are. Our jobs are nothing more then "mission
fields" we think that we are placed there for our financial support, but
in reality God planned for us to be there in advance. The places we live and
work in, are our mission fields. "Bloom where you are planted."
I urge you to get into your prayer closet
today. Shut yourself off from the world and all it's problems. You enter behind
the walls of your "prayer closet", or prayer shawl, into the Holy of
Holies with God. You touch the hem of His garment in your desperate situation
and He meets you there with healing in His touch, for any pain, any heartache
and any disappointment you may be going through.
Father, help us today to find You in our
private sanctuary with you. As we do so we will find ourselves lost in your
endless love and mounting up with wings to high places of the mountaintop with
You. In Your Name, the Name above
all names we pray. Amen and Amen
If this message today has encouraged you,
please pass it on to someone else that might need encouragement. Make
encouraging others your ministry too!