It’s probable her weakness was caused by demonic influence because Jesus says in verse 16 she had been "bound by Satan" for 18 years. Demonic spirits can provoke physical problems, but not every illness or disease is caused by demons. There are 26 recorded miracles where Jesus heals someone of a physical problem, and only seven of those were problems caused by demonic influence.

Demonic spirits can influence a person in a variety of ways. Remember, the term "demon possession" doesn’t appear once in the New Testament; it’s simply the word "demonized." Jesus cast demons out of many people, but this encounter is different. First, elsewhere when Jesus cast a demon out of a person, He never touched the person; He simply commanded the demon spirit to depart. In this passage, Jesus touches the poor woman.

A second difference is when demons were cast out, it was always a dramatic—almost scary—experience. Remember the demons that entered the pigs, and they did the "swine dive" and committed "sooie-cide"? In this case, the woman simply stands up straight. A lying spirit had convinced this poor woman that she couldn’t stand up.

From the language Dr. Luke uses, it seems she had no physiological cause for her affliction. Physicians today can testify of the amazing connection between the mind and the body. Some people are literally sick because they think they are sick, and there is no organic or physical reason to explain their illness. They are just as sick as someone who has an infection, but the illness started in their minds.

For years, people told the woman, "Stand up!"

And she would say, "I can’t!"

"Look up!"

"I can’t!"

"Lift up your eyes!"

"I can’t!"

When asked why not, she would say, "I just can’t!"

Some of you have a good case of the "can’ts" too.

"Stop drinking!"

"I can’t!"

"Stop looking at pornography!"

"I can’t!"

"Stop abusing drugs!"

"I can’t!"

"Stop being bitter!"

"I can’t!"

"Forgive that person who hurt you!"

"I can’t!"

You need to allow Jesus to deliver you from your "can’ts" today.

Have you ever seen a circus elephant tied to a small wooden stake outside a circus tent? That grown elephant could easily rip the wooden stake out of the ground. But when elephant handlers are training baby elephants, they use a strong iron anchor bar and drive it deep into the ground. When the baby elephant tugs and tries to get away, he can’t and experiences the pain of the shackle on his leg. Finally, he gives up and stops pulling. Gradually as the elephant grows up, they replace the iron anchor bar with a wooden stake. That’s why the grown elephant doesn’t pull away; he doesn’t think he can, so he can’t. It’s not the stake in the ground keeping him in place; it’s the thought in his mind that keeps him there.

One of the devil’s greatest tools is to try to erect a stronghold in your mind to make you think you can’t do something God has told you to do. That’s why the Bible says in Ephesians 4:27, "Do not give the devil a foothold." If you give the devil an inch, he’ll take your smile; he will rob you of your joy.