Matthew 8:5-13 – “Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” 

7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 

8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

 10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!  11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.”  NKJV

This account is incredibly powerful as it speaks clearly to what I perceive as a problem in some of the modern church today.  Most believers testify to believing that GOD CAN, some declare they believe GOD DOES and others that GOD WILL.  Unfortunately there are those who believe God can, does and will are continually looking for a ‘magic touch’ to bring about the miracle.  If only… If only they can get to a particular preacher or church.  If only they could see a vision, get a prophetic word, receive a sign or something THEN…  What they are doing, in my view, is focusing on the wrong thing. 

In this particular account the centurion’s servant needed a miracle and the man asked the LORD to heal him.  Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”  Then the centurion said something that is completely foreign to the mindset of many believers and told our LORD that he did not consider himself worthy of the presence of the LORD in his house and that all Jesus had to do was DECLARE IT DONE and it was done.  He understood AUTHORITY and Jesus saw his response as the true description of faith and the operation of faith.

If we understand that simple principle we will not need the visible outward magic touch that so many seem to be unable to believe without.  The danger in putting confidence in something outward is that it becomes the source rather than God and no ‘magic touch’ can produce the power of God in our lives only God.  I was called once and asked to pray for a woman and had numerous commitments that prevented me for physically going to her to pray and informed her I would pray but could not come.  She immediately became upset and said, “Well if you don’t come and bring the oil I won’t be healed.”  WHAT?  It is not my hands or the oil that would result in the miracle of healing or any other miracle IT IS THE POWER OF GOD.  That power knows no boundaries and does not require external stimuli to work.  If we understand authority and believe that if Jesus says DONE it is done then distance is no problem and humans are only important in adding our faith to your faith.

So if you need a miracle from the LORD please do not put your confidence in what I call a magic touch but in the TOUCH of the Master’s Hand.   May God be with you as you go through this day!  BLESSINGS!