Faith to Approach, Receive, and Believe in Jesus

Devotional

Day 1: Falling at the Healer’s Feet

Jairus pushed through the crowd, robes dusty from kneeling. His daughter’s labored breath haunted him. As synagogue ruler, he’d never bowed to traveling preachers—but this was Jesus. He fell at the Nazarene’s feet, ignoring murmurs from Pharisees in the crowd. “My daughter dies,” he pleaded. “Come lay hands on her.” Jesus turned immediately, following toward the house. [38:47]

Jairus gambled his reputation because he believed Jesus could do what physicians couldn’t. Status meant nothing when death knocked. Jesus responds to desperate faith, not polished resumes. He still moves toward those who risk embarrassment to seek Him.

When did you last approach Jesus with raw urgency? Pride often muffles our cries. Today, name one situation where you’ll stop managing and start begging. Will you let your knees hit the floor before your words hit the air?

“Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly with him, ‘My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.’ So Jesus went with him.”
(Mark 5:22-24, NIV)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to expose where you’ve relied on status over surrender.
Challenge: Kneel physically while praying about one urgent need today.

Day 2: Touching the Fringe of Hope

Fingers trembling, she reached through the jostling bodies. Twelve years of bleeding meant twelve years of isolation—no hugs, no temple visits, no hope. Doctors took her money; Jesus took her shame. She touched His cloak’s fringe. Power surged through her atrophied body. Jesus stopped. “Who touched me?” She confessed, bracing for scorn. [49:46]

Her healing began when she moved from superstition (“touch His clothes”) to relationship (“tell Him everything”). Jesus didn’t scold her magical thinking—He crowned her faith. Physical cure was just the start; He gave her back community, dignity, and peace.

What brokenness have you tried to fix through rituals instead of relationship? Jesus wants your whole story, not just your quick fixes. Where can you stop hiding and start confessing?

“A woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.’ Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.”
(Mark 5:25-29, NIV)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for healing deeper wounds than symptoms.
Challenge: Write down one secret shame, then tear it up as you pray.

Day 3: Daughter, Your Faith Has Healed You

“Daughter.” The word hung in the air like temple incense. For twelve years, she’d been “unclean,” “patient,” “nuisance.” Now the Rabbi named her family. Jesus didn’t just stop her bleeding—He restarted her life. Shalom flooded her: peace with body, neighbors, and God. The Healer gave Himself more fully than she’d taken His power. [51:49]

Jesus still trades labels for love. “Addict” becomes “beloved.” “Failure” becomes “forgiven.” Your faith activates His power, but His voice defines your identity. Healing is secondary to belonging.

Do you let diagnoses or past mistakes name you? Hear Him call you “son” or “daughter” today. What old label will you shed to wear His grace?

“He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.’”
(Mark 5:34, NIV)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to repeat your true name until it drowns out lies.
Challenge: Text someone today: “Jesus calls you His child.”

Day 4: Do Not Fear, Only Believe

Jairus’ servants met them en route. “Your daughter’s dead.” The synagogue leader’s knees buckled. Jesus gripped his shoulder. “Don’t fear. Just believe.” Inside the mourning house, Jesus took the corpse’s hand: “Talitha koum!” The girl ate fish, laughing. Death’s finality shattered like pottery. [01:01:18]

Jesus specializes in “too late” moments. When human hope flatlines, He resurrects. The same voice that woke a girl will one day wake all graves. Present pain isn’t final punctuation—it’s a comma before resurrection.

What situation feels beyond hope? Bring Jesus your “dead” things—He’s unafraid of graves. Will you let His “don’t fear” steady your shaking hands?

“While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus. ‘Your daughter is dead,’ they said. ‘Why bother the teacher anymore?’ Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, ‘Don’t be afraid; just believe.’”
(Mark 5:35-36, NIV)

Prayer: Confess one “dead” situation to Jesus, asking for resurrection trust.
Challenge: Write “Talitha koum” on your mirror as a reminder of His power.

Day 5: The Ultimate Talithakum Moment

The girl’s revival pointed forward. Decades later, another tomb would open. Jesus’ resurrection validated Jairus’ miracle as more than parlor trick—it proved death’s conqueror walks among us. Communion bread and cup memorialize the greater healing: Christ’s body broken so ours might be made whole. [01:06:31]

Every healing whispers Easter’s shout. Physical miracles are appetizers; resurrection is the feast. When you take the elements, you proclaim: “The same power that raised that girl raised my Savior—and will raise me.”

Does your faith shrink to daily needs, or stretch to eternal hope? How might living in light of resurrection change today’s worries?

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’”
(1 Corinthians 11:23-24, NIV)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for making your temporary healing eternal.
Challenge: Share the resurrection hope with one person today.

Sermon Summary

The passage traces three movements of faith through a set of linked episodes in Mark 5. Jairus, a synagogue leader, comes urgently to Jesus for his dying daughter, modeling faith that approaches God with persistence and humility. A nameless woman with a chronic, isolating illness reaches out amid a crowd, touches Jesus’ garment, and receives instantaneous healing; Jesus recognizes her by name, restores her social and spiritual standing, and pronounces her well in a word that carries family belonging. The interruption of Jesus’ journey by this healing amplifies the cost of faith: one who seeks help must sometimes wait amid other needs, yet the story refuses to let interruption cancel God’s power.

The narrative confronts the hard truth that not every plea yields immediate physical relief, even as it insists that God remains present in suffering and that divine purposes exceed human understanding. Jesus’ declaration, Do not fear, only believe, answers Jairus’ crisis of hope when news arrives that his daughter has died. Belief here refuses despair and trusts Jesus’ authority over death itself; the girl’s restoration becomes a signpost pointing to the greater reality of resurrection. The account ties this authority to the cross and the empty tomb, inviting a table remembrance that encapsulates forgiveness, restoration, and the victory over death.

Faith functions in three modes: approach, receive, and believe. Approaching God requires courage to ask amid uncertainty. Receiving demands a posture open to more than physical cures, welcoming relational and spiritual wholeness. Believing calls for trust that stretches beyond visible evidence and rests on the one who commands even the final enemy. The narrative culminates in an invitation to remember and participate in that work through the bread and cup, framing Christian hope as both present peace and future vindication.

Key Takeaways

1. Faith to approach God Faith that approaches places urgent need before divine power without calculation or prestige. Approaching requires humility and persistence, admitting human limits while trusting God’s capacity to act. The act of coming itself aligns the heart with God’s resources and opens the possibility of restoration. [37:57]
2. Faith to receive full restoration Receiving from God often includes more than a physical fix; it restores name, belonging, and relational standing. True healing moves a person back into community and into the family of God, undoing the isolations that sin and sickness produce. Openness to this wider restoration reframes prayer from transaction to transformation. [50:19]
3. Faith to trust beyond loss Belief that survives apparent finality refuses immediate despair and expects God to rewrite outcomes. Trust in the one who commands life over death displaces fear and reorients attention from circumstance to sovereign authority. This faith holds promise even when human reports declare an end. [61:18]
4. Faith shaped by resurrection hope The miracle of restored life anticipates the deeper victory of resurrection and grounds communal remembrance. Communion signifies both present forgiveness and the promise that death does not have the final word. Living in that hope changes how suffering, mourning, and waiting are lived out. [66:31]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[32:28] - Scripture Reading and Opening Prayer
[36:31] - The Challenge to Faith
[37:57] - Faith to Approach: Jairus
[46:47] - The Woman’s Secret Touch
[51:49] - Jesus Names and Restores Her
[57:22] - Shalom as Full Restoration
[58:58] - News of Death and Crisis
[61:18] - Do Not Fear, Only Believe
[63:17] - The Girl Raised to Life
[66:31] - Communion and Resurrection Hope
[68:55] - Invitation to the Table
[79:02] - Announcements and Benediction

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Mark 5:21-43 (ESV)
21 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. 22 Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 23 and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” 24 And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. 25 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” 35 While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37 And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41 Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Observation questions

What specific actions did Jairus take to seek Jesus’ help for his daughter, and how did Jesus respond initially?
How did the woman with the bleeding condition try to receive healing, and what happened immediately after she touched Jesus’ garment?
What phrase did Jesus repeat to Jairus when news arrived that his daughter had died, and how did the crowd react to Jesus’ claim that the girl was “sleeping”?

Interpretation questions

Why did Jesus call the woman “daughter” after her healing, and what does this reveal about the nature of restoration in faith? [51:49]
How does the interruption of Jairus’ story by the woman’s healing deepen the tension between urgent need and divine timing?
Jesus’ command to “not fear, only believe” (Mark 5:36) comes amid a seemingly hopeless situation. What does this teach about the relationship between faith and fear in moments of crisis?
How does the girl’s resurrection point forward to the greater hope of Christ’s victory over death? [01:06:31]

Application questions

In times of crisis, how do you typically approach God? What fears or hesitations might hold you back from bringing urgent needs to Him with humility and persistence?
The woman received not just physical healing but relational restoration. What areas of your life (social, emotional, spiritual) might need “shalom” beyond just a quick fix? [57:22]
When have you faced a situation where God’s timing felt delayed or His answer seemed absent? How can Jesus’ words, “Do not fear, only believe,” reshape your response to waiting or disappointment?
The sermon linked communion to resurrection hope. How might remembering Christ’s victory over death change the way you face grief, suffering, or loss this week? [01:06:31]
Jairus had to trust Jesus even when others laughed at His authority. Where in your life are you tempted to let others’ skepticism or mockery weaken your faith in God’s power?
The unnamed woman took a risk to reach out to Jesus. What step of faith—even a small one—is God inviting you to take this week to actively seek His restoration?

Sermon Clips

61s

#FaithOverFinality

“And what Jairus is asked to do here then is what we're all asked to do, to believe in Jesus even when the situation seems to have declared that things are too late. It's too far gone. It's all over. Even when the world laughs, we're asked to believe in Jesus. Even when the mourners have gathered, we're asked to believe. The people around Jairus had decided what was real but Jesus comes in here and just smashes reality to smithereens. Faith to believe means trusting that Jesus has authority over the very worst thing that can happen to us including death itself.”

40s

#YouAreKnown

“We're known and we can know that we are known by God. In Jesus, we're included into the family of God and immediately have brothers and sisters in Christ, brothers and sisters in faith with us. If you feel apart from others this morning, if you feel that you are alone or that you are outcast or that you are unknown by others this morning, my encouragement to you is you are not. You are known. You do have a place.”

43s

#ChildOfGod

“In faith, this woman has received her healing and more and it's a reminder to us of what we receive from Jesus. See, first notice that he calls her daughter. She is no longer unknown. She is no longer outside the family of God. She has been healed and made whole by Jesus. She now has a place. When we receive Jesus, we also receive a name. We're called a son or a daughter, a child of God. We have a place, a belonging.”

45s

#TrustGodsTiming

“This is not because God doesn't love you, it's not because God doesn't hear you or that he doesn't have the power to do so. What it is though is a reminder that his will and timing are so much greater than our own understanding. He is present in our suffering and the breakdown of our bodies and he is present with us in in our our physical ailments and yet his purposes are much greater than what we can see from where we are standing.”

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Mooroolbark Baptist Church This sermon · AI assistant

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