Desperate Faith

When I first started really trying to figure this "God thing" out one of my questions was "Who do I pray to? God, Jesus, or Holy Spirit?"  The answer I received was simple, "Yes."  You pray, that's the point. Just start praying.  Over the course of my journey as a Christian I've begun to learn the roles of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit but the answer remains the same, "just pray!"

In Matthew chapter 9 Jesus has an encounter with a woman who had been ill for 12 years. Her thought was if she could just touch his robe she'd be healed. She didn't feel like she needed spend hours with Jesus, or have him put his hand on her, nor did she wonder if she should pray to God in that moment. No, her instinct said to reach out and touch what you can, touch his robe.

Two things stand out to me in this encounter. One, she had faith that touching anything that was part of Jesus would heal her and two, she was desperate.

I've often wondered what my reactions would be like if I had lived during the days Jesus walked this Earth. I'd like to think I would believe Him, I would follow Him, but to be honest I'm not sure--at least not right away. It took me nearly 30 years of life before I finally believed enough to say "Please come into my life" and it's taken till I'm nearly 40 to finally say "I want to devote my life to you, no matter what." In my journey I've encountered deep heartache and serious desperation and I can tell you it's in those moments that I pray the loudest and hope the deepest--it's in those moments I would most certainly reach out and touch the robe.

My focus word this year is Believe. As I read about this woman with faith so large she just needed to touch his robe, I wondered do I have that kind of faith? Do I believe in the power of God that much? And, perhaps more importantly, do I have that kind of faith even when I'm not that desperate?

Do you?