DOES GOD REALLY HEAR ME WHEN I PRAY?

"Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?” When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, ‘Who touched me?’” But Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.” Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately" (Luke 8:43-47 NKJV).

Jesus’ entire life was a journey that would culminate in His going to the cross. The story told in Luke 8:43-47 happened during the time that Jesus’ popularity with the common people was at an all-time high. They came out to hear Him in very large groups and often they were pushy and unruly. Everyone wanted to get close to the Man who worked miracles; everyone wanted to see what was going on.

A dying, desperate woman made her way through the crowd to get close to Jesus. What little we know of this woman’s story is remarkable in several ways. Her sickness had put her on a search for help and she had spent virtually every dime in her possession chasing cures but nothing had helped. Instead, she daily drew closer to the end of her life.

Someone told her about Jesus and a spark of faith was ignited in her heart. This was a tenacious woman who was not at all cowed by the unruly crowd. The sheer magnititude of what she had to do to get to Jesus is remarkable. The woman was sick, in pain, and an unruly crowd stood in her way, but she let none of it stop her. She just kept pressing in and pressing in until she got to Jesus! I know a little bit about pain and dealing with the weariness that sets in until your mind says, “Stop pushing and it will stop hurting so badly.” She could have made a valiant effort and then backed off, saying, “You know, it just wasn’t my day; the crowd wouldn’t let me get through.” But she did not quit—she kept pressing in.

Luke 8:44 says she “touched” just the border of His garment. Immediately Jesus stopped and asked, “Who touched me?” Peter and the disciples thought the Lord was losing it right there in front of everybody. Their response was, “What do You mean, somebody touched You? This whole crowd is pushing and shoving.”

There are touches and then there are touches. The crowd was attracted to the celebrity status; their mind-set was, “We wonder what amazing, spectacular thing He will do today. Perhaps we can get His autograph or maybe even shake His hand.” Their touch was simply the curious touch of the casual observer. But such was not the case with the dying woman. In her dwelt the hunger of desperation and a spark of faith that said, “If I can get to Him, I have a chance.” And where the others reached out to touch Jesus just so they could say, “I touched Him…I actually saw Him,” the dying woman reached out and the original language says that her touch contained the desire to “cling to Him, to adhere to Him, to fasten herself to Him.”

Jesus immediately stopped and addressed the disciples. And this is where we get to the part of the story that I find so meaningful. Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” (v. 45). The disciples responded in wonderment and I believe that for just a moment that little lady wondered, “Does He even know why I am here? Does He understand that this is life or death for me?”

“Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling and falling down before Him” (v. 47). And she was beautifully healed! The original language for the word “hidden” is that Jesus was not unaware or ignorant of her and her cry for help. He knew! He was immediately aware! He knew this was not the touch of the curious, it was the touch of desperate faith.

Her desperate cry, my prayer, your prayer do not go unnoticed by the Lord. Heaven is not so busy answering prayers that the switchboard gets bogged down and confused. When we talk to God with an open, honest heart, He hears, He knows, and He will answer. The timing of His answer is not our business. I reject the notion that I can treat my heavenly Father like a slot machine, stick in a prayer and He is duty-bound to answer it on my terms, with timing that I dictate. That is just a very poor concept of who God is and what His purposes are for us.

He does hear your prayer and He will answer. Sometimes the answer is immediate, sometimes within a few days, and sometimes over a period of time. But your prayer is not “hidden” from Him—and He will answer!