“And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.
And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.
And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.
And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.” Mark 10:46-52
Blind Bartimeus is a good example of how to pray!!
First of all…
He was very humble
When he called out to Jesus, he said, “Have mercy on me”. He asked God to have mercy on him, rather than giving Jesus all the reasons why he really should heal him. Do we have that attitude when we pray? Or do we tell God all the reasons why we should be getting what we’re asking for?
“But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” James 4:6
He was very believing
For one thing, he wouldn’t have prayed if he didn’t believe Jesus could heal him. From reading this story, I can tell that Bartimeus believed with all his heart that Jesus could heal him. God honored his faith. Jesus said to him, “Your faith has made you whole.” Is that how we pray? Or do we doubt that it could ever really happen? Do we pray knowing that God will answer us in his own way and time? Maybe we don't know for sure if God will give us exactly what we are asking for, but we can have faith that God will answer us in a way that's best.
“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Matthew 21:22
“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Mark 11:24
He was very earnest
The story says that when he heard that it was Jesus, he began to cry out. And when the others tried to make him quiet he cried the more a great deal. There was nothing half hearted about his prayer, was there? He was dead serious about what he was asking for. Do we pray like that? Or do we just rattle off the same prayers every night that we don't really mean?
“ The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16b
To pray fervently means to pray passionately with your whole heart. That's how Bartimeus prayed!
He was very persistent
Nothing could put him off! In fact, when people tried to shut him up, he got louder than ever! That’s being persistent.
Notice Jesus' reaction to this persistent prayer. He stood still, and commanded him to be called. Persistent prayers get God's attention. Are we persistent when we pray or do we just give up when we don't see an answer straight away? Jesus taught the disciples to be persistent in prayer in Luke 11:5-8 and 18:1-8.
He was very specific
He had a specific prayer request. He definitely knew what he was asking for. Do we pray like that? Do we ask for specific things? Do we pray for specific people, or do we just pray that God will bless, help and save everyone in the whole wide world? If we're not specific, we won't see answers to our prayers, will we?
He was straight to the point
When Jesus asked Bartimeus what he could do for him, what did Bartimeus do? Launch into a big long prayer that would impress Jesus and all those listening? No! He just got right to the point. 'Lord, that I might receive my sight.' We can learn a lesson from him. It would be better for us to pray short prayers that are very humble, believing, earnest, persistent, specific and straight to the point, than to pray big long prayers that mean nothing to us or are just a sermon to those listening.
I heard a message once where the preacher was talking about being straight to the point in prayer. He used Peter walking on the water as an example. When Peter started to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me.” The preacher pointed out that Peter just said what needed to be said. His didn’t start off saying, “Lord, we come to Thee this beautiful moonlit night...”
There's a good quote that says, “Some people's prayers need to be cut off at both ends and set on fire in the middle.”
I'm not saying, don't pray for a long time. But just make sure you are serious and wholehearted about everything you are praying about.
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