He Wants To

Jesus came down the mountain with the cheers of the crowd still ringing in his ears. Then a leper appeared and went to his knees before Jesus, praying, "Master, if you want to, you can heal my body." Jesus reached out and touched him. "I want to. Be clean." Then and there, all signs of the leprosy were gone. - Matthew 8:1-3 (The Message)

Does Jesus want to heal you? Does He want to bless you, protect you and touch your life? The answer is a resounding YES! That is why He came to this earth - to bring us closer to God and make all of these things available to any who would reach out to Him and say a simple, "Lord if you are willing..."

When Jesus walked the earth 2000 years ago, He never turned anyone away. There is no record in the Bible of any time when He told anyone that He couldn't do what they asked, or that He was too tired to help those in need. Even when He and the disciples were exhausted, when the crowds came, Jesus had compassion on them and healed their sicknesses and taught them about His Father.

Is Jesus the same yesterday, today and forever, as the saying goes? Of course He is, and He is still willing and able to do the same things He did in the Bible. His compassion for us and our needs has not lessened at all. Now that He is not tied down to an earthly body, He doesn't even get tired anymore!

I had a mini revelation the other day, about making our requests known to God. So many times we hear people say that we shouldn't talk too much about our needs when we pray. Admittedly, if your requests are all that you talk to God about, you need to reevaluate your relationship with Him. After all, no relationship is good when it is all one-sided! However, God knows that we are human - He created us that way! He knows we are not perfect, and although we are to strive for perfection and holiness, He does not have "God-like" expectations of us. We are needy people, and that is okay with God! He tells us in Hebrews 4:6 that we can approach His throne with confidence to find help in our time of need. Other translations tell us to come boldly!

Jesus knows us. He knows what it is like to live here on earth, and He knows that we have needs. It is okay to have a lot of requests for Him, and its also okay for some of our prayers to mostly be about those requests. So don't feel guilty about needing God's help. He really doesn't mind helping...He wants to!