Matthew 20:29-34, "As Jesus and His disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd was following. Two blind men who were sitting by the road heard that Jesus was passing by, so they began to shout, “Son of David! Have mercy on us, sir!” The crowd scolded them and told them to be quiet. But they shouted even more loudly, “Son of David! Have mercy on us, sir!” Jesus stopped and called them. “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?” He asked them. “Sir,” they answered, “WE WANT YOU TO GIVE US OUR SIGHT!” Jesus had pity on them and touched their eyes; at once they were able to see, and they followed Him." (GNT)
Be Like The Blind Man, When You Can’t See Jesus, Listen For Him, And When You Hear Him, Make Sure He Hears You! Open Your Mouth; Therein Lies Your Miracle!
Therefore, starting today, pray Big and Bold! Ask the hard thing! And be specific! Don’t be afraid! Ask God to heal the situation in your marriage; the substance abuse in your children; your fear of tithing because of your bills and debt. Take to Him specifically what the doctors diagnosed! Jesus is not afraid of Cancer; Heart Failure; Diabetes; Arthritis; HIV or Aids! He Can Heal Anything, So Take Everything to Him! He has no fear in regards to your mistakes and even deliberate sin. He can handle the divorce; the unemployment; the church transition; the foreclosure; the bankruptcy; the child support (and even lack thereof).
Why struggle with fear, fret, panic, anxiety worry, stress; anguish and the like, when you could simply enter your prayer closet (the one that you make anywhere, including a bathroom stall at work!)
Block out people who try to discourage you with such statement as “nobody has ever survived that; or my dad died from that same exact thing; or boy you must be out of your mind to think God will do that; or girl you may as well throw in the towel because not even Jesus can clean this mess up!”
Jesus loves these kinds of prayers: Persistent and Bold!
And lastly, let's focus on the one secret of prayer that we miss all too often. In verse 32 Jesus says, "What do you want Me to do for you?" It seems like such an obvious question though, don’t you think? I mean after all, here are two BLIND men! And Jesus heals BLIND people! However, the blind men say instead, "Lord, have mercy on us." And there’s nothing wrong with that, but Jesus says, "Well, tell Me exactly what you want Me to do?" This is a characteristic of prayer that gets miracles and that’s praying Specifically!
See, these guys had already made a GENERAL request, "Lord, have mercy," but Jesus insists that they narrow down their request and tell Him EXACTLY what they want, SPECIFICALLY. And when they do, Jesus responds with a miracle!
The word “specific” is defined as “clearly
defined or identified; precise or clear; relating to a particular
individual or situation; a definite reference; limited to one particular
thing; exact; detailed; intended; distinctive; unique; designated;
explicit.”
This is what your prayers need to sound like!
See, too often our prayers are like those vague answers I give my family in regards to buying gifts for me, "Anything will be fine, and anything you pick out or pick up is alright by me." Likewise, we talk to God about "give me a blessing," "I need an answer," "send help!" or some GENERAL spiritual request. And I wonder if Jesus is standing there asking, "Well, like what? What are you asking for?" In fact it's really expanded my praying to imagine Jesus standing there as I pray, saying, "Okay, J.P., what do you really want Me to do for you?"
And so, I learned not to just ask God to bless my marriage, but I’ve learned to take specifics about my marriage to Him. I no longer just say “Lord, keep my children safe.” But I’ve learned to pray “Lord,
keep my children safe not just from others or harm, but from their own
imaginations; desires; devices; wants; lusts; insecurities; immaturity”,
and the like. I don’t just say “Lord bless my finances.” But “Lord, bless me to be a good steward over the finances that you have provided for me. Help me to be disciplined in my spending and saving…”
In other words, I don’t want to be like the blind men sitting by the road yelling Lord have pity and mercy on me, when my specific request is, “I WANT YOU TO GIVE ME MY SIGHT!”
Now it isn't that He doesn't know what the need is. He just wants us to know what we believe Him for...specifically...not vaguely because we have doubt, fear and unbelief!
Listen to Philippians 4:6, "Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [SPECIFIC] requests known to God." (AMP)God honors specific faith! Not demands, but requests that are always under the umbrella under which even Jesus Himself prayed, "Not My will but Yours, Lord."
Coming to God persistently, daring to believe Him for big, bold, specific requests touches His heart!
You know what I also find interesting as well? Once they make a persistent, big, bold and specific request of Jesus; once their request is granted; they “…joined the procession.” This is the same crowd of critics that tried to mess up their miracle! This is why you can’t be deterred by your critics. Let God’s work in your life be what silences those who tried to silence you! Think about it: Two blind men shouting to get their sight silenced those who tried to shut them up…isn’t God amusing!
Let today be the day your prayer life takes on a new dynamic. One that is specific in its nature. One that goes to God KNOWING He hears and He answers!
SEE to it today that you Make Your Prayer Request Specific! You Have NOTHING to Lose And EVERYTHING to Gain!
Blessings
J.P. Olson
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