Matthew 8:1-3
1 And when He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.
2 And behold, a leper came to Him, and bowed down to Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
3 And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Have you ever been to a place wondering if God is willing to answer your prayers? Has He seemed to not care about you or our needs? We don’t know many details about this leper or his leprosy, we know he came humbly to Jesus as he identified the only possible barrier to his healing. “Jesus, I know if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
He was thinking that of course, he wasn’t clean, and maybe that was an issue that was affecting the Lord’s outlook. What about worthiness? But what else can he do but ask? To his great delight, Jesus reached out His hand and touched him! Then He spoke . . . “I am willing, to be cleansed.” Immediately the leper was clean. I can’t recall an occasion when Jesus said, “Sorry, not willing.”
So what about you? Does some feeling of guilt or shame keep you from Jesus?
Do you think He doesn’t like you or love you? That would be a big mistake.