The power of prayer

By Dean Collins

Another thought concerning prayer. Yesterday, I wrote about the parable Jesus told about the widow and the unjust judge. We struggle to understand why some of our prayers are prayed over and over just like the widow in the story yet seem to go unanswered. Other prayers may be answered very quickly.  The widow in the story pestered the judge until he eventually gave in to her request.  Jesus didn’t tell us anything about the woman’s mood while praying or how she felt after her request was eventually granted. 

 We might project our thoughts and feelings onto this widow when we are relentlessly praying for some intervention from God in a given situation. In this parable, Jesus doesn’t tell us about this woman’s future. But I bet that when the widow received justice from the unjust judge, her feeling was more about relief than about how long she had been pleading with the judge.

 Toward the end of Mark chapter 10, Jesus and the disciples passed through Jericho on their way to Jerusalem. As they left Jericho, a large crowd had gathered in anticipation of what Jesus might say or do next. A blind man named Bartimaeus was sitting by the road and heard the commotion on the street. Realizing that Jesus was in the crowd, Bartimaeus quickly and loudly began to cry out to Jesus asking that he have mercy on him. Some in the crowd tried to stop him; but he just yelled louder saying, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

 Jesus heard the blind man calling out to him, and he instructed someone to tell Bartimaeus to come to him. Mark described the next scene saying that the blind man threw off his cloak and jumped up and came to Jesus. Jesus asked the man what he could do for him, and the blind man didn’t hesitate in his reply. He boldly said to Jesus, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” Jesus told the man to go his way - that his faith had made him well. 

 So many things jump out at me as I consider this text and the parable Jesus told about the widow and the judge who neither feared God or respected man. (Luke 18)

 1) Jesus told the parable to a group of religious leaders who had physical sight but had lost their ability to see spiritual things. They were blind to who Jesus was and what he had to offer. But Bartimaeus, while having no physical ability to see, sensed who Jesus was and called him the son of David.

 2) Bartimaeus was clearly a person of faith and one who knew something about the scriptures. We are not told how many times he may have presented himself to rabbis and priests asking them to pray for him or how many times he cried out to God over the years. Like the widow in the parable Jesus told, I suspect Bartimaeus had been relentlessly praying for his needs to be met. In Luke 18, Jesus ends his parable by asking if the Son of Man will find faith on earth when he comes.  In Mark’s story of the blind man, Jesus saw a needy man filled with faith; and he answered his request.

 3) Bartimaeus sat on his cloak day in and day out begging on the road. But when Jesus called him to come to him, he threw off his cloak. His faith told him he would never need to sit on the road again.  Mark tells us that when Bartimaeus was healed, he followed Jesus. My guess is he followed him to Jerusalem and followed him the rest of his life.

 In the last few days, I have felt God moving in many different situations. I saw him move in a situation I have been praying about for decades. I saw him move in several situations I have been praying about for several months. Seeing God move reminds me that God is a God not just of the past but also of the immediate, the here and now. 

 Father, I pray that you would increase our faith that we would boldly pray for the things we need. We ask that you have mercy on us. We ask that you use us however you choose as you even might use us to answer the prayers of others. Forgive us when we hesitate instead of acting persistently in our prayers and in our service. We love you and thank you for the answers you are providing even now.  Open our eyes to see you at work in and around us. In Jesus name, Amen.

 Your Time with God’s Word
Luke 18:1, 8; Mark 10:46-52 ESV

Photo by Guillaume de Germain on Unsplash
To receive daily posts delivered directly to your inbox, complete the form at the bottom of our home page.