ON PRAYER (PART 2)
"And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me ... And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?" - Mark 10:47, 51
This is the interesting account of blind Bartimaeus' meeting with the Lord Jesus as narrated in the Gospel of St. Mark.
Two great lessons on prayer here!
1) Desperation
Have you seen a man that is desperate as regards his need? It often stems from the feeling that we have found the way out of our problem and we won't let go unless and until we have our desire met. So it was for the woman with the issue of blood recorded in Matthew 9:20-22 and Luke 8:43-48, for the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32 and for blind Bartimaeus, currently under discussion. The Bible tells us that when he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, "he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me!" In the face of opposition from many of those there, telling him to be quiet, blind Bartimaeus "cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!”
The Holy Scriptures tell us that “Jesus stood still.” and attended to him. According to John G Lake, "The timeless Christ stood still in time, captured by the cry of a desperate blind man who (in his physical blindness) saw clearer than all those who would stop him." (emphasis added).
I will liken desperation to desire. The key to answered prayers is desire. Until your wish graduates to the point of becoming a desire, you'll never get God's attention in prayer. Jesus said in Mk 11:24, " ... What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."
2) Be Specific
One of the reasons why we don't get answers to our prayers is because, most often, our requests are vague and not specific. This point is aptly illustrated by the account of blind Bartimaeus' encounter with the Lord Jesus. His initial request was "Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me". This was his undaunted and repeated request to Jesus, until the Lord corrected him saying, "What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?" In other words, the Lord Jesus was at loss as to what blind Bartimaeus really wanted from Him.
Very often we think that God's omniscience should enable Him to know what our requests are, even before we ask in prayers. Indeed, yes! However, though He knows what we need - Matt 6:32, yet He desires that we ask in prayers and that we be specific with our asking. For instance, in blind Bartimaeus case, how would he want the Lord to have mercy on him? It's the same thing when we pray asking that the Lord should "bless" us or someone else. How do you want Him to bless you? It's been said that there are over 8,000 promises or blessings in the Scriptures. Be specific! Let Him know which of His blessings you desire of Him. This is so revealing because this is what we do a lot of times.
Have a great day!
PRAYER
Dearest Heavenly Father, thank you once again for the privilege of prayer. As I note and correct these pitfalls when I pray, may you grant to me my heart desires, in Jesus name.