Bartimaeus' Prayer
Mark 10:46-52,
Last Sunday morning, we dealt with blind Bartimaeus, the beggar who came to Jesus. And the main focus of the application was upon Jesus. Obviously, the miracles put into sharp focus was Jesus, He puts on display His mercy, grace, and power. But like the parables, the miracles also help us to understand ourselves; not always in a good light, but sometimes in a good light. And blind Bartimaeus helps us when it comes to prayer. In his commentary, Matthew Henry puts a great emphasis on the praying blind man. And what can we learn? What can blind Bartimaeus teach us about prayer? I have five things.
And they came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up, He is calling you.” And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him,”‘Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him. “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed Him on the way.”
Last Sunday morning, we dealt with blind Bartimaeus, the beggar who came to Jesus. And the main focus of the application was upon Jesus. Obviously, the miracles put into sharp focus was Jesus, He puts on display His mercy, grace, and power. But like the parables, the miracles also help us to understand ourselves; not always in a good light, but sometimes in a good light. And blind Bartimaeus helps us when it comes to prayer. In his commentary, Matthew Henry puts a great emphasis on the praying blind man. And what can we learn? What can blind Bartimaeus teach us about prayer? I have five things.
1. Pray With Faith
He prayed with faith. Faith always goes to Jesus. Faith has some knowledge of who Jesus is. Faith doesn't run to strangers. You wouldn't go to Jesus unless you believed certain things about Jesus and Bartimaeus goes to Jesus. So we could say he prays Christologically, or he prays with faith. And even that subsequent cry or that cry for mercy, is also evidence of faith. Blind Bartimaeus believes Jesus is merciful, that he can obtain mercy from Christ. And the Psalms are full of cries of faith for mercy. Psalm 4, “Be merciful to me and hear my prayer.” Psalm 6, Psalm 9, Psalm 25, “Redeem me and be merciful to me.”
2. Pray with Humility & Dependence
It's a prayer of humility or dependency. Mercy assumes humility. Mercy assumes I can't fix it, I can't heal myself. And mercy means that you and I do not have the right to demand anything. We have to come asking, begging, and we have to throw ourselves upon God, upon His mercy and compassion. It's interesting when Jesus picks up that word beggar or the word for poor, which is the word used in the Sermon on the Mount, the very first Beatitude, “Blessed are the poor.” It could be translated, “Blessed are the beggarly poor.” It's a word for those who are beggars and He wants us to come to Him as beggars, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” It would be good for us to remind ourselves rather regularly who we are, we are spiritual beggars. So yes, blind Bartimaeus can help teach us how to pray. He prayed with faith, he prayed with humility.
3. Pray with Perseverance
He prayed with perseverance, he wouldn't give up. Despite the hindrances, despite the opposition from the crowd, he cried out all the louder. He didn't go quiet, he wouldn't back off one inch. And perseverance is a hallmark of the Christian faith. That comes through very clear in the book of Hebrews. You have that long, big chapter in Hebrews 11 about persevering faith, faith that overcomes. And that's where this faith shows up here. And even Jesus, remember that parable of the persevering widow, a parable about prayer, He wants us to know when it comes to prayer, we have to persevere.
You've heard the story about George Muller. He prayed for five different men for their conversion. The first one was converted five years after his praying. The second one was 10 years. And then two were 25 to 50 years, they don't give exact numbers here. So those four men were converted. One took five years, one took 10 years, two took between 25 to 50 years. But there's one, the fifth man he prayed for didn't come to the Lord until after he died. The point is, ‘never give up’. And sometimes our prayers will be answered, it could be, right after we're dead. Prayers we prayed for our children, our grandchildren, maybe for this person or that person, they could very well be answered after we die. So you never have to give up hope. Even on your deathbed, you can be praying for loved ones because God could answer that prayer after you die. So Bartimaeus teaches us how to pray by faith, humility, dependency, by perseverance.
You've heard the story about George Muller. He prayed for five different men for their conversion. The first one was converted five years after his praying. The second one was 10 years. And then two were 25 to 50 years, they don't give exact numbers here. So those four men were converted. One took five years, one took 10 years, two took between 25 to 50 years. But there's one, the fifth man he prayed for didn't come to the Lord until after he died. The point is, ‘never give up’. And sometimes our prayers will be answered, it could be, right after we're dead. Prayers we prayed for our children, our grandchildren, maybe for this person or that person, they could very well be answered after we die. So you never have to give up hope. Even on your deathbed, you can be praying for loved ones because God could answer that prayer after you die. So Bartimaeus teaches us how to pray by faith, humility, dependency, by perseverance.
4. Pray with Specificity
He prays specifically, right? Not just in general terms. Remember when Jesus invites him, he comes to Jesus. He's still blind and Jesus asks, “What do you want me to do?” He doesn't shrug his shoulders, but very quickly comes back with the answer, “I want to see. I want to see. Give me sight.” When the Apostle Paul was praying to be delivered from his thorn in the flesh, again, very specific. We don't know what that thorn was, but he knew what it was. And he specifically asked to be delivered from that thorn.
5. Pray with Thanksgiving
And the last thing we can say about the prayer of this poor beggar, Bartimaeus, he prayed with thanksgiving. Now that's not here in Mark's gospel, go to Luke's gospel. But after Jesus heals him, he doesn't do what those nine lepers did. Remember those nine lepers; there's 10 of them, nine took off, they didn't come back to Jesus, one did, only one returned. But in Luke's gospel, he tells us that Bartimaeus walked and began to follow Jesus. He didn't run away from Jesus, he began to follow Jesus. And he also uses the term glorified God, he began to glorify God. I would argue one of the best ways we can glorify God is by giving thanks to God. And the more you give thanks to God, the more you glorify God. “In everything, give thanks. In everything, give thanks.”
So as you come to prayer let's not forget the blind beggar, we can learn from his example. Let's pray with faith, let's pray with humility, perseverance specifically and thankfully.
So as you come to prayer let's not forget the blind beggar, we can learn from his example. Let's pray with faith, let's pray with humility, perseverance specifically and thankfully.
Posted in Pastor Devotional