Desperate Faith

In Tough Times You Need A Desperate Faith

Text: Mark 5:25-34

Introduction:

1. When times get tough then desperate measures are needed

2. We have been speaking on the subject of prayer and fasting on our Wednesday night services for the past 2 weeks ( 2-3 weeks left on Prayer and Fasting )

1. We have been dealing with the 3 Spiritual Laws concerning prayer and fasting

2. The 1st one is: Spiritual Law # 1 Mountain moving faith and the power of the Holy Spirit are made possible to the believer through prayer and fasting ( Mark 9:29 )

3. Example of desperation in prayer and fasting: Esther 4:16

Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

1. 3 days of no food or water— Absolute fast

2. Extreme situations ( extermination of the Jewish people by the plot of Haman ) require extreme measures of faith ( Absolute fast for 3 days )

3. I want us to go to Mark 5:25-34 and we will see a woman who had a problem that desperate faith was needed and that worked

1. A desperate faith will listen to something from God it has never heard before (Mark 5:25-28)

1. She has suffered for 12 years of Bleeding- female problem ( Ovarian cancer possibly )

2. She has went to many doctors

3. She has spent all her money on getting better— BUT SHE HAS GOTTEN WORSE

4. She hears about Jesus:

1. Heard He was anointed to heal the sick ( Luke 4:18-19 )

18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

2. Heard about the many miracles:

1. Sick being healed

2. Dead raised to life

3. Signs and wonders

4. Demons cast out of the afflicted

Application: When you face tough times in your life you better be willing to hear from God in His Word even if it goes against the grain of what you have been taught ( You may have been taught wrong )

Example: Relatives that believed in a fatalist view of prayer as it concerned the will of God for our lives: They believed that if God wanted to heal you He would and if not He would not and there was no real use in praying and believing God about it because whatever was meant to be would happen regardless of how you prayed— BUT when my nephew was involved in a serious car accident and they thought he might die or be permanently brain damage all that faulty theology got straightened out fast— they not only called on me to pray for his healing but firmly believed God that He would spare his life and heal him.

2. A desperate faith does something it has never done before ( Mark 5:27-28 )

1. When she heard about Jesus a revelation of faith came to her from the Holy Spirit

( Romans 10:17 ), "Just touch His clothes and you will be healed"

2. She acted in desperation and pushed her way through the crowd in a weakened condition— and touched His clothes

3. If you want something you have never had then you must do something you have never done before

Application: when you face tough times it is not enough to just listen and believe and want your situation to change— you must act on what you believe regardless of how impossible or even silly it may seem— desperate faith does things it has never done before

Example: why is it that many in this church come to the Tuesday prayer meetings

( 10:00am/7:00pm ), the Saturday prayer meeting ( 6:00pm ), the Sunday prayer meeting ( 8:45am ), and the early morning prayer meeting Mon-Fri at ( 4:30am ), and even some fast one to two days a week. It is because they want something they do not have— The GLORY of GOD— Revival, Renewal, Restoration, and an Awakening by the Holy Spirit in their lives, this Church and in this city of Georgetown.

3. A desperate faith get’s something it has never had before ( Mark 5:29-34 )

1. She pressed through the crowd and touched His clothes— immediately the flow of her blood was dried up— she was healed by the anointing of the Holy Spirit that she heard was on Jesus. ( Luke 4:18-20 )