29 As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. 30 Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
31 The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
32 Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
33 “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”
34 Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.
In my lengthy experience inside the church I find that we are not particularly good at prayer. Which explains why we don’t do it very much and it often disappoints us.
I can’t count how many times I’ve heard “and…God bless the missionaries in Africa”.
Huh…? What does that mean?
That’s a prayer…no matter how heartfelt…that is destined to disappoint us. Why? Because there is absolutely no way to measure it. If I were a missionary in Africa and heard that prayer I’d ask “did you read my prayer letter?”
Of course it’s safe. It’s so generic that we never have to wonder if God is answering us. On the contrary, how will we ever know…for sure? Believe me, “not failing” isn’t the same as succeeding. Ask any athlete.
So Jesus asks them “what do you want from me”?
“We want our sight.”
Specific, measurable and achievable…all the hallmarks of a good prayer.
When was the last time we could identify specific (not coincidental) answers to our prayers? Whose fault might that be?
Live boldly out there today…
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