Holly Furtick uses a parenting anecdote to introduce the Biblical story of Jairus, a synagogue leader whose daughter is dying. She emphasizes the value of being specific in prayer (citing Jairus and Philippians 4) but cautions against letting expectations about how/when God should act overshadow the central truth that God is a very present help—healer, comforter, guide, and Prince of Peace—who is with believers in darkest hours.
Chapters
It's funny what a dad will do for his kids. I always found that Stephen was way more sympathetic to our kids than I was. Like, you know, whenever they would have some kind of injury, they'd bump their head or whatever, and they'd come to me. I would always downplay it. I'd be like, you're fine. Go play. It's all right. Very quickly, my children learn who to go to for sympathy. Their father, because he made up this thing. Every time they would come to him, he would say, oh, you hit your head. Did you know I went to head school? Oh, you hurt your finger. Let me see. Did you know I went to finger school? Back me up. This man went to paper cut school, stubbed toe school, skinny school. And I used to think they really believed him, too. And I used to think, God help this man if his kids ever really get hurt. You know, dads have this tough exterior, but when their child is hurting, they want to alleviate their pain. So in our story, we have Jairus. He's a synagogue leader. He's a man of means, and yet his daughter is dying. And we can assume that he has tried every doctor, that he has tried every concoction that every neighbor has suggested, and nothing is working. And he is running out of time. And so he comes and he finds Jesus, and he falls at his feet and he begs. He says, please come put your hands on her so that she will be healed and lived. And you know what Jesus says to him? He says, let's go. It's interesting to me how specific Jairus was with his request. He says, please come put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live. And as I was preparing this message, I was thinking it's not necessarily a bad thing to be specific with God. Philippians 4 tells us that we can present our requests. He wants you to pray about everything, even the dumb stuff like the houses and the little things. He wants you to come to him. He wants to have a relationship with you. But I think sometimes, at least in my life, I don't know about yours, but in my life, I let the list my expectation of the how I want God to work in my situation and the when I think he needs to work in my situation. I let that become front and center, and I miss out on the more important part, which is that Jesus is with me. Jesus went with Jairus. And God is not this magic fairy in the sky who waves his wand and grants our wishes. But you know what? He is a very present help in times of trouble. And if we pray, believing that God is working all things for our good, we have to realize that he is doing so much more than just sitting up in heaven, deciding if and when he's going to grant our request. Yes, he is, Healer. But you know what else he is? He's the Prince of Peace. He's the comforter. He's our guide. He's faithful. And he's so much more. He is a God who is with us in our very darkest hour.
