“Annie?”  Max whispered as he lightly knocked on Annie’s bedroom door.

“Come in Maxy,” Annie’s voice was soft. Max walked in almost on his tiptoes. Annie coughed and blew her nose.

“Annie, will you be better today?” Maxy asked as he sat at the end of his sister’s bed where she lay covered in blankets.

“I hope so Maxy, I really want to play with you today,” Annie blew her nose again.

“Yes, me too, Annie. Mother is making you your special tea again, the one that doesn’t taste very good but it will help you get better.”

Annie smiled, and coughed again. Just then, mother walked in with a cup of hot tea.

“Annie my dear, sit up so you can drink your tea. I will check if your fever has gone down.” Mother placed the tea on the night table beside Annie’s bed as she went to get the thermometer. Annie began to blow on her tea and slowly drink it. Mother came back with the thermometer and placed it under Annie’s armpit. After a few seconds, she checked it.

“Hmm, it’s gone down a bit, but you’ll have to stay in bed today again.”

“Aw,” whined Max in disappointment.

“I know you would love to play with your sister, but first she needs to get better,” mother ran her fingers through Maxy’s hair. “But I have good news that will cheer you up, Grandpa should be here any moment.”

“Grandpa?” Annie and Max said at the same time as their eyes lit up.

“Yes, he wanted to come and spend time with you both today, and make his special soup,” smiled Mother.

“Yes!” the children couldn’t wait to see Grandpa.

After an hour, Grandpa finally arrived. Annie had fallen asleep so Max decided to help his Grandpa make his special soup. By the time the soup was finished, Annie had awakened. The children weren’t usually allowed to eat in their rooms, but mother made an exception this time. So Grandpa and Max took the soup upstairs where the three ate.

“You know children, when Jesus was on this earth, He would heal people who were sick,” Grandpa began. . . . The children looked at each other and smiled; they were excited to hear what the lesson for the day would be.

“In the gospels, there is a story of a very sick woman. She had been sick for twelve years and no doctor could help her. One day she heard Jesus would be in her town, so she went out to see Jesus. However, a large crowd followed Jesus and it seemed almost impossible to get to Him. This didn’t stop the woman. Although she knew it would be hard to speak to Jesus, she decided that she would touch the hem of His garment, and that would be enough to heal her. At that very moment, her sickness was gone. Jesus, after realizing that she had touched Him, admired the woman’s faith, because she believed in His power to heal her.”

“Maybe if Jesus was here, Annie could touch Him, and she wouldn’t be sick anymore, just like this woman,” said Max.

“You know Maxy, in John 14:14, Jesus makes us a special promise. He says that anything we ask in His name, He is willing to do it. We can touch Jesus’ garment by faith, and He will heal Annie. We can ask Jesus to heal Annie through prayer. Would you like us to pray?”

“Yes, Grandpa,” answered Max as he looked at Annie. Annie smiled.

Max prayed so that Jesus would heal Annie, just as He had healed the woman who had been sick for twelve years. A few hours went by, and mother checked Annie’s fever again.

“Annie my dear, your fever is gone,” said mother happily.

“And I feel much better, mother, I’m not coughing anymore,” said Annie, excited, “Jesus heard our prayer!”

“Wow, Jesus answers our prayers when we believe,” smiled Max.

Everyone was happy, and they prayed, offering their thanks to Jesus.