And now,
If you're Christian,
You're reaching out to Jesus for relief of your suffering.
There was a famous woman in the Bible.
She did the same thing.
Both Mark 5 and Luke 8 in the New Testament describe this encounter with her and her encounter with Jesus.
As I share it with you,
Close your eyes,
Allow yourself to relax into a deep state by breathing in,
I am,
Relaxing,
In,
I am,
And out,
Relaxing,
In,
I am,
And out,
Relaxing.
And breathe naturally now,
Breathing out,
Relaxing.
While you imagine the story I will tell you from Mark and Luke,
Imagine Jesus has just crossed the Sea of Galilee by boat.
There was a large crowd gathering in town,
Waiting for him,
A large,
Eager crowd.
And in that crowd was a woman who had suffered for 12 years and no one had been able to treat her effectively,
No matter how much money she had spent on care.
If you were her,
You can imagine that you would hear many people in the crowd talking,
Talking,
Talking very excitedly about what they knew about Jesus.
They had heard about this healing and that miracle.
Hearing someone shouting,
Jesus is coming.
Hearing the man who had gone out to meet him,
Calling for the way to be cleared.
And you can imagine how it would feel as your bare feet touched the dusty road,
The powdery dusty road where Jesus would soon walk.
Perhaps your feet would feel a smooth cobblestone or smooth rocks beneath them.
Or perhaps you would feel the touch of the linen ropes of the other people,
Pressed forward,
Forged forward through the crowd,
Eager to see Jesus.
And at first,
You see only a shadow of a man coming from a distance,
Kicking up a little dust from the road as he nears.
Then,
As he comes closer,
His face grows clearer.
As he comes closer,
You begin to see his eyes,
His smile.
You begin to see the aura around him.
Jesus has come.
You can relax now.
He's here.
You hear people whispering with excited voices.
There he is.
I see him.
I do,
Too.
You hear others begging one another to step aside as they press forward to get nearer and nearer to Jesus.
The crowd is tight.
You feel their body heat and you smell their sweat as they all,
You all,
Push closer and closer to meet Jesus.
And if you squeeze yourself nearer and nearer through all the very tall men just to get to your Savior,
You're lucky.
Perhaps someone moves aside a little.
Then you look down and see Jesus' feet and the edge of his robe.
And as you imagine his robe,
You know you're close,
Very close.
So allow yourself to relax.
Relax down,
Way down.
Relax into a deeper and deeper healing,
Receptive state.
Prepare to open yourself and be healed.
If you had nudged yourself close enough that he was only two or three people away,
With all the men so tall,
Towering above you,
Perhaps you would want to fall to your knees.
There you may see Jesus from below.
No matter how much your knees hurt,
You would crawl forward,
Reaching out,
Reaching out.
And you can hear yourself calling his name,
Jesus,
Jesus,
But the crowd is loud and he does not hear.
You're feeling desperate.
You're ready and you're feeling desperate to be healed.
After so many years of suffering,
After crawling that far,
After being so close,
You reach through the men toward the edge of his robe,
Just wanting to touch the white edge of his robe,
Believing that there is power in and all around Jesus.
And knowing that,
You can now relax more deeply,
Relax down,
Way down,
Allowing yourself to sink into a deep and profound receptive healing state as you touch the edge of the robe.
And you feel it,
A miracle coming over your body.
Who touched me?
Jesus asked.
Someone touched me.
I know,
Because that power has gone from me,
Instantly healed.
And you look up at Jesus and said,
It was me,
Lord.
And Jesus replied,
It was your faith that healed you.
And now,
My faithful friend,
You too can relax.
You're safe.
Your Savior is here.
Allow yourself to go into a deeper,
Even more profound state of healing.
As I read this famous prayer for healing,
Soak it up.
Oh God,
You are the health of those who trusted you and the comfort of those who suffer.
Hear my prayer and grant that sickness may be overcome and health restored.
Through Christ our Lord,
Amen.
And while you're in this healing state,
I would like you to create a mental portrait of yourself.
Just a head portrait.
Just one look at that portrait,
The eyes,
The smile,
The way the head is held.
Just one look at that portrait and you know,
Beyond a shadow of a doubt,
That this you is feeling strong,
Free,
And whole.
Just one look at that portrait of you,
You can see on the face that you,
This you has brought that pain under control.
That this you has found it tolerable now.
This you is relieved.
And this you,
One look at this you and you know that this you can make the best of his or her life.
That's you there,
See it.
Make it 3D if you'd like,
Brighten up,
Brighten up the picture if you wish.
Now place that image before you.
You can tack it up there like you would tack a photo on the wall or like you would put it on a spot in the best place of a shop.
To display it,
To get the customer's attention at a distance and a height that would draw everybody toward it,
A very appealing position.
Put that portrait there,
That wonderful portrait of you,
Adjust it until it's very appealing and attractive.
When that is done,
Allow yourself to then sink even more deeply into a healing state.
So deep that the rest of the world and my voice remain.
And as you listen,
Let every cell in your body listen with you.
When the Lord,
The Father,
And the Holy Ghost know what to do to make that portrait come true.
When they know what to do to reduce your suffering,
And when they know how to do it in a way that makes it tolerable,
And when they agree to do it,
All at a deeply healing level beyond your conscious awareness,
Then,
And only then,
Can you use your own time and your own way to slowly return to waking awareness.
So continue,
Continue healing at the unconscious level as I read these Bible verses and prayers at the conscious level to you.
2 Corinthians 1 verses 3 to 4 Blessed be the God and our Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
The Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
Who comforts us in all of our afflictions so that we can comfort others who are in any affliction with the comfort that God has provided us.
And with this healing,
The prayer of St.
Francis,
Lord,
Make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred,
Let me sow love.
Where there is injury,
Pardon.
Where there is doubt,
Faith.
Where there is despair,
Hope.
Where there is darkness,
Light.
And where there is sadness,
Joy.
O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
And with this new comfort and healing,
I invite you to ask yourself,
Who will I understand?
Who will I show empathy for?
Pardon to?
Who will I show love to?
Let me remind you,
The answer is in Matthew 25,
Verses 34 to 40.
Then the king will say to the righteous,
Come,
You who are blessed by my father,
Take your inheritance,
The inheritance the kingdom has prepared for you.
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,
And I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.
I was a foreigner in this land and you invited me in.
I needed clothes and you clothed me.
I was sick and you looked after me.
I was in prison and you came to visit me.
Then the righteous will answer him,
Lord,
When did we see you hungry and feed you,
Or thirsty and give you something to drink?
When did we see you a foreigner and invite you in,
Or needing clothes and clothed you?
When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?
The king will reply,
Truly I tell you,
Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine,
You did for me.
Now let my words sink in.
Soak them up as you consider the blessings you want from God.
And your place in the world.
And vow now to act and vote accordingly.
And now,
Please repeat the last part of the Lord's Prayer.
Then awaken,
Feeling that your prayers have been received.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done.
On earth as it is in heaven.
One more time with me.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done.
On earth as it is in heaven.
One more time.
Open your eyes now.
Welcome back.
