Today's Passage - Luke 8:40-44

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 8:40-44   "As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him.  And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her.  She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped."   This woman came before Jesus with a strong desire to be healed, because the disease of bleeding already troubled her for twelve years and she had not been healed after spending all her money.  She was both physically and spiritual tormented.  Because of her bleeding problem, she was considered unclean and she could not be in contact with others at will, thus she was basically forgotten by the society.  When she came before Jesus, was had a strong desire to receive healing from the Lord.   Do we have such an attitude of strong desire when we come before the Lord to ask for something?  First of all, you must bring your needs before the Lord.  Christians very often have the wrong assumption that God is very busy and does have time to deal with our trivial issues; however, the Bible clearly teaches us that we don't receive because we don't ask.  Some would suggest that the Bible also says God knows everything even before we start asking, so why do we need to ask?  It is true that God already knows all our needs, but the Bible also tells us that blessing from God comes to those who are humble and eager.  When we ask God, we demonstrate how humble and eager we are.   Second, not only do we need to ask, we also need to ask in detail.  Some will go before the Lord and ask, but only in very general terms.  When you are praying, the Lord may ask "how may I bless you?"  If you just say you would like the church to grow, then the Lord will ask "how do you want it to grow, increase by one or by one hundred?"  Not only should we ask, we should also come before God to ask, otherwise how would we know whether God has accomplished our prayer?   Third, not only should we ask in detail, but we should ask earnestly.  If we don't really care about the outcome, or don't even remember what we asked for, how can we expect God to listen to our prayer?   We must come before the Lord with an eager heart; when we are eager, we will pay the price of earnest prayer.  If we are eager, we won't just pray when we think of something and totally forget about it the next day, but instead we will earnestly wait upon and look upon God.  If we do that, we will be able to receive all the grace that God has prepared for us.     Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, I thank you because you the Lord who listens to our prayer.  I ask that you place an attitude of eagerness in our heart, so that we will pray continuously.  Let us hold on to your promises, cry out before your throne, just like the bleeding woman.  When we pray to your earnestly, please reach out and touch us, and bring us healing, release, peace and joy.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!