When You Need a Breakthrough: Pressing Into Jesus for Your Own Needs (A Touch from Jesus Series - Part 2)

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Audrey 1:12

Hello friend. Welcome back to Grace for My Home. I'm Audrey McCracken and I'm so glad to be back with you again this week. I hope that you're doing well. We're doing great. It's spring and it's beautiful outside. We've had a few nights it's been freezing, and then we've had days it's been in the 80s. But today it's in that sweet spot. It's just beautiful. And the flowers are starting to bloom and the trees are starting to bloom. The only hard part is the pollen, but we're working through that. I have a son who he this time of year is so hard for him. And he's the one who wants to be outside. You know, he's the one who loves the outside, but he's the one who the pollen is just so bad for him. And he came in the other day and it looked like somebody had punched him in the face. That's how bad his his allergies are. And we did all the shots, you know, when he was little. We did several rounds of shots, but but the shots just refused to help him, you know. But today I'm so glad to be back with you. And last week we started a new series. We started a series on praying for ourselves because prior to that I had done a series on praying for our children. And that's so important. And, you know, as mamas, that's one of the things that I love to encourage mamas about praying for their children because we have so much evidence in the Bible that God answers the prayers of parents for their children. And so I shared four examples. There are more, by the way, there's a many more examples of parents who bring their children to Jesus in prayer. But I picked out four and we went through those. And then I said, I want to start this series about praying for our own needs, about coming to Jesus with our own issues. And when the Lord started dealing with me about this, and I spoke about it a little bit in that previous series, but when I started praying for my children and I started, you know, asking God to do things in my children's lives, I became more and more aware of my own issues, of the areas where I struggle. You know, and it's hard to go to Jesus and say, Jesus, I want you to do this in my child's life when, you know, I'm not walking that way myself. You know, I would ask God to help my child with self-control. But I had an issue with self-control, you know, I had an anger issue. And I would ask God to, you know, give my child a heart that loves people. And then there would be people that when their just their face or their name would come to me, I would cringe. And and so God was, you know, he was like, What about you, Audrey? What about you? So as I started praying for my children, I also started praying for myself. And, you know, we as moms, there, you know, sometimes we get a martyr complex. And we think that, you know, we just have to give and give and give and give, because that's what we're expected to do. And we never take care of our own needs. And that goes for prayer too. You know, you I'm sure you've heard the saying, you can't pour from an empty cup. And it's so true. If if you're always giving out to other people, you're always praying for other people, but you're not letting the Lord do a work in your own heart, in your own mind. If you're not praying for yourself, then you're missing out on some things that God wants to do in your life. You know, God's not done with you. God's not done with you. He is still working, he can do miracles. And I don't know about you, but I would love for God to do some miracles in my life. I'm still struggling in some areas, and I would love for him to do some new things in me, in my heart, and in my mind. And sometimes we just get to the point that we just think, this is who I am, this is how it is. You know, last week when I started this series, we talked about the man who had been crippled for 38 years, and he was laying by the pool of Bethesda, and he was waiting for someone because at a certain time of day there the waters would be stirred. The first one who got to the waters would be healed. And Jesus comes along, and this man has been laying here for years. He's been crippled for 38, and Jesus asked him an unusual question. He said, Do you want to be healed? And I my first thought is, why would you ask a man who's been lame for 38 years if he wants to be healed? Of course he wants to be healed. But Jesus knows better than me. And I believe Jesus was asking him, Are you sure you want this? Because this is going to change everything. For 38 years, you've identified as this type of person. Are you sure that you want me to do this? Because it's going to change the way other people see you. It's going to change the way you spend your days. It's going to change you. And I think sometimes, you know, we we have an identity of who we are. And if we allow Jesus to do what he wants to do in our lives, then it's going to upset a lot of things. It might upset people. It'll definitely change who we are and how we see ourselves, but it's always for the better. And so Jesus healed this man. And this week I want to talk with you about the woman who had an issue of blood. Now, the Bible mentions her in all three of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And I love that because in each of those stories it tells a different aspect about her and her life. This woman had had an issue of blood, some kind of a medical condition where she lost blood and she had had the same condition for 12 years. And it says that she had spent all of her money on doctors and she didn't get any better, she actually got worse. But somewhere along the way, she heard about Jesus. And a hope sprung up in her heart. And she said, if I can just touch him, then I know I'll be set free. I know I'll be healed. But see, the thing is, because of her sickness, she was required to be isolated. She could not be around people, she could not touch people. That was part of the Jewish law. But one day Jesus comes by and she says, if I can just touch him, if I can touch the hem of his garment. And Jesus is on his way somewhere. He's on his way to pray for Jarius' daughter. His 12-year-old daughter is at home sick. And Jarius has come and asked him, Will you please come pray for my daughter? And so they're on their way to his house. And there's a big crowd, and she sneaks up behind him, touches his robe, and immediately she is healed. And Jesus immediately knows something has happened. And he stops in his tracks and he says, Who touched me? And Peter says, What do you mean, Lord? Don't you see the crowd? What do you mean, who touched me? Everybody touches is touching you. And he said, No, somebody touched me, and I felt virtue leave me. And see, she had a need. She went where she wasn't really supposed to be. She reached out, she touches the hem of his garment. Immediately, Jesus' healing power touches her, and she's she's different. She's changed. God met her need. And Jesus is aware something has happened. He doesn't know exactly what happened, but he knows something happened. So he stops in his tracks and he says, Who touched me? And he knew it wasn't just a regular touch. It was a it was one of those touches that this person has drawn from me what they needed from me. And so he's searching in the crowd. And she doesn't want to be exposed because she's not supposed to be there. But when Jesus finally finds her and he identifies the one who touched him, he doesn't rebuke her, he doesn't scold her. He says, Your faith has healed you. Go in peace. And she's healed and she's set free. You know, she wasn't even looking for an audience with him. She just wanted to touch him. She had enough faith that if I if I could just get close, I will reach out and I will take what I need. He didn't have to know about it, right? And Jesus commends her faith. And I I thank the Lord for her example to us that we too can press into Jesus. We too can draw from him what we need. And he will not scold us, he will bless us, he will give us what we need when we need it. And he cares. You know, Jerry was in a hurry because he was afraid his daughter was gonna die. But this woman, she had had this problem for 12 years, just as long as his daughter had been alive. And Jesus, he he took a few minutes with her. Isn't that beautiful? You know, he he's not too busy for you. He knows that you have a need, and when you bring that need to him, he cares. He cares about the things that touch you, and your prayers touch his heart, and you can draw from Jesus the things that you need, and he promises that he will meet your needs, he will meet all of your needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus, but you have to bring those needs to him. Faith without works is dead, and in prayer, faith is bringing our needs to Jesus and saying, Jesus, I need you in this area. And receiving that answer from him. That's how we draw from him. Now it may not be immediate like hers. Sometimes we might have to just leave it at his feet and trust him with it and go about our way. But we have to trust that he cares, that he hears, and that we belong to him and he's promised to meet our needs. And this woman is our example. We can press in. Sometimes we have to press in. It feels like there's a lot of commotion around, right? There's a lot going on. We're not even sure if we're welcome. We're not even sure if we should be praying this way. But we we've decided, you know, he is my only help. I've tried this and it hasn't worked. It's left me lonely and isolated. And I need Jesus. Guys, he the thing about Jesus is when he answers our prayers, we think we a lot of times that the things that drive us to him are things we want to get rid of. Right? It's the hard times often. I wish it wasn't that way, but that's just the way it is. A lot of times it's the hard times that drive us to him, but in those things we find him. You know, I spoke a few weeks ago about one of my sons and a hard time that he had about a year ago. And because he was struggling, me and my husband were struggling. And that was a hard time. It was a fearful time, it was an uncertain time. And it drove me to my knees, and it caused me to seek Jesus. And would I have sought Jesus otherwise? I was seeking Jesus. I was praying, I was reading my Bible, I was seeking the Lord. But when my child needed something, my prayer life went off another level. Often it's the hard things that bring us to his feet. But while we're there, we realize that he is our greatest need. He uses those things to draw us to him. But the ultimate answer to our prayer isn't just the answer to the prayer. It's that we found Jesus and that he found us. And he uses all things for our good, even the hard things. He uses those things to get us to him. And I just want to tell you that he cares for you today. The things that touch us touch him. He cares about us deeply. But he wants our attention. He wants us to bring these things to him, and he wants to give us what we need in all of these situations. Can you believe that today? This woman, she heard about Jesus. We don't know how or where or when, but somewhere along the way, she heard about Jesus and she thought, if I can just get to him, this will be better. And she was right. And she didn't just go to him, she drew from him. And that's what we have to do in prayer. We have to go to Jesus and draw from him those things that we need. So today, I want to encourage you to go to Jesus. I want to encourage you to go to him, lay down before him the things that are troubling your mind, that are bothering you, the things that you need help with, the issues that are that are stealing your peace. I want you to continue to pray, to continue to ask, to continue to knock on his door. I want you to be determined in your heart that you're not going to go away until you get an answer to your prayer. I want you to determine in your heart that you're not going to stop asking until you see an answer in the prayer that you've been praying. Now it may not look like you thought it would or hoped it would, but there'll be a piece that God has heard my prayer. I want you to press in. I want you to know that you aren't bothering him, that he's drawing you. I want you to understand that he's going to take time for you. You know, he was really busy. He was going to pray for this 12-year-old girl. And that father, she, I'm sure it was very hard for him when this woman seemed to take the time that Jesus had dedicated to him. But Jesus had time for her. Faith without works is dead. And when we go to Jesus in prayer, that is putting action with our faith. And he rewards faith. Press in. I want you this week to write down three things, three things that you wish were different in you or in your life. I want you to take it to him and say, Lord, these are the three things right now in my life that I wish were different. It feels like they're hindering me. I can't change them. And I need you to either take them away or show me how to deal with them. Let me see these areas through your eyes. Give me the peace that you've heard my prayer and show me the plan. Direct my footsteps concerning these things. Press into him. Ask him this week, Lord, show me the answer. Show me these things through your eyes. And I believe that as you press into prayer, as you put your faith in him to answer those prayers, you will see a breakthrough. And you will start to believe again for miracles in your own life. Not just your children's lives, not just your friends, not just your husband, but in your life. God wants to do a work in you, precious one. He cares about the things that bother you, the things that matter to you matter to him. And he wants to show you his care by answering your prayer. But you got to press into him. You got to bring it to him. You can't say, Oh, I'm okay, Lord. I'll take care of it. Don't worry about it. I don't want to bother you. How are you going to grow? How are you going to grow in a relationship with him? How are you going to mature unless you allow him to answer your prayers? Unless you bring these things to his feet. How are you going to see them move? See, when he answers those prayers, your faith goes up. Your faith surges. And it's like, why didn't I ask before? I love you. And I hope that this message has been encouraging to you. If it has been, would you share it with a friend? That would mean the world to me. That's why I do this. I, you know, I do this because, well, I enjoy doing it, but I want to encourage you. And the more people I can encourage, the better. And so I ask you to share this with a friend. And before you go, we're going to pray together. Father, I thank you for my friend. I thank you for breakthrough in her life. I thank you, Lord God, she's prayed for others. She's believed for her children. Lord, she's asked you to do miracles in their lives. But God, I thank you that you're going to build her faith by doing a miracle in her life. I pray, Lord, where she's where doubt has crept in and she's just given up on some things, that you would bring those things back to life, that you would breathe fresh breath on those things. And God, that you would show her your heart and your mind concerning those things that concern her. And Lord, we thank you for it. We thank you for your goodness, Lord. We thank you that even in the problems, Lord, you even using the bad things, the hard things to get us to your feet. Lord, we give them to you in Jesus' precious name. Amen.