“Holy Spirit-Fueled Movement.
Just as we pray for strength, You ask us to strain forward, and You give us strength. As we pray for faith, You ask us to step out in faith, and You give us more faith. When we pray for healing, You ask us to stretch out to You as the woman who was bleeding stretched out to touch the hem of Jesus’ clothes and was healed. We must stretch out to be healed.
The Holy Spirit is here. God is asking us to reach out in belief and meet Him. Meet the Spirit of God here, now, and then step in faith, with His strength, with healing in our touch because of His Spirit — hearing, open, speaking through us!”
As I meditate on this word, I’m focused on this theme of stretching. I’ve exercised all my life, and still I tend to blow past stretching even though I know its benefits. We are creatures who like comfort, and, in pain, we tend to contract further in rather than choose to extend ourselves. I return to the story of the woman told in both Luke 8 and Mark 5 that was referenced here. After years of trying and spending everything, she found nothing that could heal her. There is a real desperation that leads to boldness and a willingness to strain forward, to receive what Jesus has to strengthen us and heal us.
- Are there places where the church/your church needs healing and hasn’t found it? Are we desperate enough to fall down and grasp the hem of His garment? (Mark 5:26–28, 33)
- How is God asking me to reach out in belief, specifically, today?
- Are there people I know with a special gift of faith? How can I encourage their gift for the sake of the church? (1 Corinthians 12:4–10
Prayer
Father, Son and Spirit, You are over all, in all, and through all. We thank You for saving us by grace through faith, which is the gift of God. Remind us that while it is impossible to please You without faith, we don’t have to muster up more faith on our own, but we can ask and receive it by Your Spirit. Increase both our desperation and our faith in You at the same time. Make us desperate to see the works that only You can do, including the reconciliation and healing of humanity beginning with our families, friends, and neighbors. Help me to encourage others and become someone with a special gift of faith for Your church that we might be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. Jesus, we trust You enough to be stretched, to reach out in belief and boldness for breakthroughs. We pray this in Your mighty name, Jesus. Amen.