If God already knows what I need, why should I pray about it?
Mark 10:51
Jesus and Blind Bartimaeus
So many of Jesus’ interactions are surprising, leaving onlookers with a sense of wonder and mystery. Most of the time this feeling of amazement sprang from a miracle, something no one had ever seen before in their lives. This is certainly understandable, for who had ever seen a man control the wind and the waves with the sound of his voice, or call a dead man from a tomb four days after his death? But in this encounter, I find myself surprised not just at the miracle—the healing of a blind man—but just as much by the question he asked before he healed him.
Let’s set the scene (Mark 10:46-52). Jesus is leaving Jericho, and a huge crowd of people are following him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus is sitting by the side of the road and hears the throng passing by. He enquires of the people around him what is happening, and they tell him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by!” A spark of hope is kindled in his heart, and he realizes this may be his only chance at being healed. He has undoubtedly heard of all that this wonder-worker had been doing, as had the huge crowd that swelled around him. With a combination of faith and desperation, he began to cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me (Luke 18:38)!” The crowd around him, embarrassed at his shrieks and his lack of decorum, rebuked him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted even louder, “Have mercy on me!” There was no way the selfish sensibilities of the hushing crowd were going to stop him, but he had to make himself known above the din of the multitude. Jesus stopped. He called for him to come. The crowd then changed and said, “Take heart! He’s calling for you (Mark 10:49)!” Bartimaeus threw his cloak aside, jumped to his feet, and came to Jesus… probably led by the hand by some caring people.
What Do You Want Me to Do?
Then comes (for me) the most surprising part of this whole account. As blind Bartimaeus stood in front of the Savior, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you (Mark 10:51)?” My mind reels at this question. Jesus was characterized by supernatural knowledge in every circumstance. John’s Gospel reports that Jesus merely saw Nathanael sitting under a fig tree and knew him to be what he appeared to be, a man without guile. In the next chapter, we are told that Jesus would not entrust himself to many in the crowd in Jerusalem who saw his miracles and wanted to follow him, “for he knew all men. He needed no one’s testimony about men, for he knows what was in a man.” (John 2:25-25) When some disciples of the Pharisees came complimenting him and ingratiating themselves to him with flattery, Jesus saw right through all that and knew they were trying to trap him in a question about taxation. Jesus regularly read people’s minds and knew their hearts. He knew that Simon the Pharisee was judging him in his heart when Jesus allowed a sinful woman to touch his feet. He knew that the Pharisees thought he was blaspheming when he declared that the paralyzed man’s sins were forgiven. So… can it even be possible that Jesus did not know what Bartimaeus wanted that fateful moment outside the city of Jericho? Let’s be honest… was there anyone there in the crowd that didn’t know what Bartimaeus wanted when he cried, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”? One hundred out of one hundred people would have said, “He wants you to restore his sight.” Yet, Jesus made Bartimaeus say it! Speak the words. Tell me what you want. Present your request.
Clarity in Prayer
A prayer request should be clear enough and specific enough that you could write it on a piece of paper.
This brings us to a key element in our prayer lives: clarity. Or perhaps, specificity. A prayer request should be clear enough and specific enough that you could write it on a piece of paper. Why? Simply so that you will be able to know when God has granted it and give him proper thanks when he does. “Lord, bless the world” will not do. Neither will it do to say, “Lord, all that you will to do for our church, please do it.” You can be sure he will. But how will you know when he does. “If the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will follow it into battle” (1 Corinthians 14:8). Paul calls for prayer for his own ongoing deliverance from danger in his ministry, so that “many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many” (2 Corinthians 1:11).
When you come to King Jesus to pray, as you enter the throne room of grace and kneel before your gracious and generous king, picture him looking at you kindly and saying, “What do you want me to do for you?” Then be very clear what you want and speak it to him by faith. And watch what he alone can do!
