A Note from Hixon Frank
Mark 10:46-52
46 They came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus (the son of Timaeus), a blind beggar, was sitting by the road. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many warned him to keep quiet, but he was crying out all the more, “Have mercy on me, Son of David!” 49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man and said to him, “Have courage! Get up; he’s calling for you.” 50 He threw off his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus. 51 Then Jesus answered him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Rabboni,” the blind man said to him, “I want to see.” 52 Jesus said to him, “Go, your faith has saved you.” Immediately he could see and began to follow Jesus on the road.
This passage has always been a little bit odd to me. Not that the story itself is odd. Quite the contrary. It is a beautiful story of the graciousness of Jesus. As I study this passage further, several things have caught my attention.
Bartimaeus was desperate. He had lost his social sensibilities in light of the opportunity to be healed of his blindness. He shouted, caused a scene, and didn’t care. He would not be silenced. Beautiful.
Jesus clearly had compassion on Bartimaeus. Even in the “great Crowd” Jesus noticed and stopped for him. Then doing the same thing He does to us, he said, “Call him.” Meaning of course, that He wanted Bartimaeus to come to him. Beautiful.
The people then went to Bartimaeus and said “Have courage! Get up; he’s calling for you.” It is the same invitation He gives to all of us. Jesus is calling us as well.Beautiful.
Then Jesus did something unexpected. He askedBartimaeus “what do you want me to do for you?” That would be understandable, were it not for the fact that everyone was already keenly aware that Bartimaeus was blind. Wouldn’t the assumption be that Bartimaeus wanted to see again? Hmmmm. But Jesus wanted Bartimaeus to voice his need to Him.
James 4:2b. “... You do not have because you do not ask.”
In my personal experience with prayer, when I verbally “make my requests known to God,” so many things happen in my soul… from “peace that passes understanding” (Phil 4:7), to a step or two towards humility, and a freedom to release the need to God’s capable hands. It is all right there when I make my request known to God! Beautiful!
In this series of articles, we are looking at 7 different kinds of Prayer and why each is important! We have looked at Adoration, Lament, Thankfulness. The fourth type of prayer is PETITION.
Petition is what many people imagine when they think about prayer. It means asking God for something, whether for yourself or someone else. Jesus is asking you the same question He asked Bartimaeus, (Mark 10:51) “What do you want me to do for you?”
Petition is seen in the husband praying for his wife to recover from illness…
It is seen in the son praying for his father’s salvation…
It is seen in friends praying for one another …
It is seen in the prodigal crying out for one more chance…
It is seen in the widow crying lonely tears to her heavenly Father …
It is seen in the pastor asking God to move in His church…
It is seen when we go to God and ask…
Philippians 4:6 tells us …
6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Check out these three prayers from the Bible for examples of petition.
You have been prayed for today!
Hixon