Persistent Prayer

As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." He called out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" "Lord, I want to see," he replied. Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God. Luke 18:35-42 TNIV

I love the scriptures because of stories like this one. You can feel the situation; you can see the story unfold before your very eyes. Here you have a blind man who is begging and he realizes Jesus is passing by and yells out to Jesus. The people around him tell him to be quiet, which makes him yell all the more until Jesus answers him. In life how many times have we wanted to do something and the people around us silence us. We are afraid because of what others will say about us. This becomes especially true in church. We are afraid of upsetting the balance or looking silly. How many times has God passed us by because we were afraid to act? God moves in the lives of the people of the church. No one is more important than the other; the spirits leading come from all directions. But the blind man isn't going to let this opportunity pass him by…the tell him to be quiet, he yells louder.

By crying out to Jesus, he receives his sight. By his 'persistence' he was heard. Here is what I really gather from this story. We yell God hears us, but waits. He wait to see what it means to you, he waits to if you're serious. He waits…. Sitting and waiting isn't something a majority of us are use to, in 'our way world'. Nathan Strong of After the Chase wrote this song called 'We Wait'. After seeing them Sunday, this song has grabbed me on several levels, look at the lyrics:

God of the broken
God of the suffering
God of the people who cry out for help and wait
God of the empty
God of the lonely
God of the hungry we cry out to You and wait and need

And we wait, and we wait
And we wait to hear Your voice
To feel Your touch, to know Your love
To know You're here with us

God of the dreamless God of the desperate
God of the worn out we cry out to You
God of the fearful
God of the weary
God of the tortured we cry out to You and wait and need

Where are You – I don't know
Where are You – Where You are
Where are You – But I need to see
Where are You – Your face tonight
We are broken – I am so
We are suffering – Broken suffering
We are worn out – Worn out
We are weary – Where are You
We are fearful – I need You
We are hungry – I need Your touch
We are desperate – I need Your
We are empty - Love
Where are You
Where are You
Where are You
Where are You – I need You now

The blind man was there, he had sat there long enough to want a change. He was worn out and hurting. He needed Jesus more than anyone who was walking with him at the very moment and no one was going to drown him out. So where are you? Have you reached the point where you need Christ and no one will silence you in your persistence? God longs for you to reach that point, to truly mean your prayer. To truly want him with all of your heart, not part of it, but all of it.

-ps