A Bold Approach

A Bold Approach

Read: Mark 5:21-34

“Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Mark 5:34

“Prayer is an effort to lay hold of God Himself, the author of life.”

—Sundar Singh

IN WORD Of all of the petitions we offer up to God, most of them are centered around one of these two desired provisions: His peace and freedom from suffering. When life is tumultuous and confusing, when doubts run rampant, and when circumstances threaten us, we want His peace. When life hurts, we want relief. We would almost always consider these very words of Jesus the specific answer to our prayers. And we wonder: Why don’t we hear them more often? If we really want to know, we would benefit from examining why this woman heard them spoken to her.

The bleeding woman had not only suffered physical pain, weakness, and the anxiety of knowing something was dreadfully wrong with her for twelve years; she also had to live with the knowledge that for twelve years, she was ritually impure. According to Old Testament law, she could not enter the Temple courts, and she could not offer sacrifices (Leviticus 15:25-30). She could not know normal fellowship with God’s people. She could not approach the holy.

This woman obviously knew who Jesus was, at least to some degree. She would not have sought Him if she did not. Her human solutions had failed (v. 26), so she sought the divine. It was an act of ultimate desperation, but also an act of great faith. What drives someone deeply washed in the idea that she is unholy to Someone who is holy? A bold belief that there is mercy to be found there. A brash expectation that within the holiness of God is His abiding grace.

IN DEED What drives you to the Holy One for your petitions? Is it a belief that there is some right to be there, that something within you will compel Him to answer? If so, the answer probably will not come. Or is it a bold assurance of His merciful character that takes you where you really—by all natural means—have no right to be? Jesus responds to such boldness. It knows exactly who He is.