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Cry Out to Jesus from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

My simplest and most accurate description of faith is believing in something enough to take action on it. For example, if someone told you they would meet you outside the bank at 10 AM, would you believe them enough to meet them? I know some people I would believe and some I wouldn't. Some people mean what they say, while others say what they don't mean. 

Do you believe in God enough to live differently? I know many of you are going through very difficult times, and it is a struggle to stay positive. But we don't follow our feelings; we follow the Lord. 

All day long, the enemy bombards our minds with thoughts of despair, loneliness, fear, and anxiety - the worst outcome possible endlessly loops in our heads. It's not good, but we need to learn to contain that and not let it affect our actions. Faith is what we do, not what we say. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and intending to do something just means you haven't done it yet. 

James said that sometimes we do not have because we do not ask (James 4:2 NKJV). So, if you have a need in your life, it means you need to take it to God in prayer and give Him no rest until He answers. It's fine if His answer is "No," but unless we hear that clearly, then we need to keep on praying about it. Jesus taught it this way: 

(Luke 18:1–5 NKJV)  Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: "There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, 'Get justice for me from my adversary.' And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, 'Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.' "

I know there is a time to pray once and stand in faith, but when hanging on by a thread, we are to pray until faith like that comes. When in great distress in the Garden, Jesus went back and prayed the same words three times:

(Matthew 26:44 NKJV)  So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

Sometimes, we are broken and defeated in our minds, so we become paralyzed and do nothing. For God's sake, we need to wake up, snap out of it, shake it off, and cry out to Jesus. This is real. This is painful. God help me. James instructed us this way:

(James 5:13–15 NKJV)  Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

The word "suffering" means to experience pain, endure hardship, or suffer distress, physically or emotionally. We are supposed to pray for ourselves as well as others. A common trick of the enemy is to make praying for yourself seem selfish, and it is "holier" not to, but as we say in the South, that is hogwash. That is not biblical. When Jabez prayed, the Lord gave him what he asked:

(1 Chronicles 4:10 NKJV)  And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" So God granted him what he requested.

I want to show you some examples of people who received a miracle from Jesus because they asked for it, and if they hadn't asked, Jesus would have passed on by. To avoid duplicates, these are all taken from the Gospel of Matthew, but there are many others:

A leper came to Jesus and asked to be healed, and he was:

(Matthew 8:1–3 NKJV)  When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Jairus asked Jesus to come and resurrect his daughter, who had recently died, so He did, and the daughter lived once again: 

(Matthew 9:18–19 NKJV)  While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live." So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.

The woman with the flow of blood for eighteen years reached out to touch the hem of His garment as Jesus passed by and was instantly healed:

(Matthew 9:20–22 NKJV)  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well." But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that hour.

Two blind men followed Jesus down the road, crying out to Him, and He touched their eyes, and they could see:

(Matthew 9:27–30 NKJV)  When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!" And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord." Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you." And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it."

A man whose son repeatedly had seizures came to Jesus, and the son was delivered of the evil spirit tormenting him:

(Matthew 17:14–15 NKJV)  And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.

When Jesus left Jericho, two blind men were sitting by the road, crying out to Him. He touched their eyes, and they received their sight. 

(Matthew 20:29–34 NKJV)  Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!" Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!" So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?" They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened." So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

All of these people could have done nothing and would have received nothing in return. Cry out to Jesus. Tell Him what is on your heart. Explain why it is important to you. Speak to Him like a friend. Don't expect to have when you didn't ask. 

You can pray this with me if you like: 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please hear my cry. Make what is important to You important to me. Help me see others through Your eyes. Pick me up, dust me off, and help me stand on my feet again. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!