And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, "Have mercy on us, Son of David." When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you." And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, "See that no one knows about it." But they went away and spread his fame through all that district. (Matthew 9:27-30)
Why is it that I grow so weary of praying when my prayers are not answered immediately? Why is it that it seems harder to pray as time passes and that the fire that once blazed when I prayed seems to have cooled a bit? In my laziness and unbelief, I find my prayers lagging because I am not seeing immediate and 'miraculous' (according to my mind) results. But in His kindness, God pointed me to this passage to freshly stir me for persistent and bold prayers for Ian.
Notice the actions of the beggars. They followed Jesus. They followed behind him and kept asking him, over and over, to have mercy on them. Jesus did not respond immediately to their cry for help. He did not restore their sight the first time or second time they asked. The Savior wanted the two blind men to follow His lead and to keep asking for mercy. It seems that Christ wanted to test their faith first. Would they continue to ask for mercy even when it did not come immediately? Would they continue to follow Jesus, even when He passed them by the first time? The blind men followed Jesus because they believed that He was able and willing to heal them. They had faith in infinite power and tender compassion. Jesus responded to their persistent faith by healing them. He loves to respond to faith.
We too must follow Jesus even when our prayers don't bring immediate results. As Ben wrote earlier, Christ waits to answer prayers for a very specific and very good reason. Do we believe that Jesus can heal Ian? Absolutely. Then let us continue to follow Jesus and cry out for mercy. Let us be stirred by the example of the blind men. They weren't deterred when their first request was not granted. They knew what Jesus was like, so they followed Him. Let us do the same. For His glory alone...
-Stephen A
2 comments:
What an amazing story of inspiration and encouragement this website is becoming. An awful tradegy is becoming, with God's help, a wonderful tale of love, prayer and persistence. Would that it had not taken something so serious to turn us all back to God and reflect His glory!
I pray most fervently for Ian's family, friends and mostly for Ian himself. I pray for healing and for his family's love to touch him as it never has before, and that when he finally leaves the hospital, it is to the sound of heaven rejoicing for the beauty of spirit that our Lord has created in Ian and his family.
He is answering prayers for Ian everyday. What a miracle that He should show such mercy and how much we do not deserve it. I thank God that each of us in his turn is shown that mercy, but for myself, I will pray that my share of mercy is shown to Ian and his family.
Keep going guys. God is with you, and He is most definitely with Ian.
A Sister-in-Christ.
I woke up from the most realistic dream that I have had in a long time with one thing on my mind from that dream - I would read in Ian's blog that his eyes opened and he was truely awake! I know that the Lord gave me that dream - I do not know if it was meant to be prophetic or if it was simply to spur me on to pray more. I fully believe that God will answer our prayers in HIS time and it will be the PERFECT time. No matter what the timing, God will be glorified. Pray on!
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