March 25:   We’re All Children of Abraham

One Sabbath day, Jesus entered a Synagogue where a woman was sitting hunched over with a back problem. Jesus stood and read the Scriptures. Then He looked at the crowd, setting His eyes on the woman. He called her to Him, put His hands on her, and healed her. Immediately, she straightened up and praised God (Luke 13:13). The religious leaders murmured among themselves, in effect, “How dare He heal her on a Sabbath day!” Jesus turned to them and said, “Should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on a Sabbath day from what bound her” (v. 16).

Even though this woman hadn’t asked Jesus for healing, He gave evidence of her rights according to God’s promises. This woman had been sick for years, but she wasn’t healed until the legal action was in place. Jesus didn’t heal her just because it was the Sabbath; He healed her according to the contract God had made with His chosen people on behalf of Abraham, in which He said, “The Lord will take away from you all sickness” (Deuteronomy 7:15).

As a daughter of Abraham, she had the right to the healing God had promised His people. We usually ask the Lord to heal us because we are hurting, and He does heal us with compassion. (See Matthew 14:14). However, the primary reason He heals us is that we give Him evidence that it is our legal right through Christ. Again, we pray specifically, according to God’s word and we secure the promises! Note: In addition to His mercy and the grace to do well, God answers prayer when we give Him legal evidence that it is our right.

Let’s pray: Father, thank you for fulfilling your promises in Christ. Thank you, Lord, that I have the legal right to answered prayer in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Today’s reading: Joshua 19-21; Luke 2:25-52

Answered Prayer is Our Legal Right.