Read Luke 18: 35 – 43

And it came about that as He was approaching Jericho, a certain blind man was sitting by the road, begging.  Now hearing a multitude going by, he began to inquire what that might be.  And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.  And he called out, saying, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!

And those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”  And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he had come near, He questioned him “What do you want me to do for you?”  And he said, “Lord, I want to regain my sight!”  And Jesus said to him,  “Receive your sight, your faith has made you well.”

And immediately he regained his sight, and began following Him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.

We hear many requests for healing, don’t we?  That is a common theme whenever Christians gather to pray.  We don’t very often hear of miraculous healing however.

Here is one thought.  Bruce was involved as a chaplain on a hiking ministry in the Appalachians.  His prayer letter contained this story. 

“The next day we again agreed to meet at the next shelter.  That was the afternoon that we encountered a violent thunderstorm with rain, hail, and wind on the exposed ridges.  As always Grr (nickname of one of the hikers) was on the trail much longer than us, which means he was exposed to the very worst of the storm for several more hours than, we were.  Hoosier and I were sitting together in the shelter when he arrived.  Dripping wet he took 3 steps and stood directly in front of us and said, “What were you doing 30 minutes ago?”  We looked quizzical and he more vehemently asked again, I tentatively offered that we were worried about him and had prayed together for him.  He then directly said, “30 minutes ago my ankle was so bad I was not sure I could go on.  Then just like that all the pain was gone… completely gone.”  This tough as nails rugged man believed something miraculous had happened.  I do too.  I know of no other explanation but that God showed Himself in a miraculous way.”

I think we should not be afraid to ask for the impossible for others and ourselves.

The beggar in this account had nowhere else to go.  He could hear the crowd go by and when they said it was Jesus. He began crying out.  He couldn’t see Jesus, neither can we.  But He believed He was the Messiah.

He went to Jesus in spite of those who told Him to be quiet.

His encounter was life changing;

He was blind and now he could see

He went from crying out to praising the Lord

From sitting in darkness to entering the light

He went from the shame of being a beggar to glorifying Jesus

He went from sitting on the edge of the road to follow Jesus in His journey to the Cross.

The Blind Beggar was no longer the same.

What do we learn about Jesus?

Jesus heard the cry above the noise of the crowd.  And He can hear our cry as well.

Jesus stopped His journey for one man. He will stop for you and me.

He asked others to bring the beggar to Him.  He involves others in His miracles.

He asks simple questions:  What do you want me to do for you?

I am inviting you to come closer to Jesus.  Don’t let the crowd keep you away.  Think with me, what it would be like to be the blind beggar, face to face with Jesus? And He says these words:  What do you want me to do for you?

I asked myself this question and was surprised that I had to ponder awhile before I could find my heart to ask Him.  What would you say?  What do you need today?

The beggar had once been able to see…”he said regain my sight.”

Have you lost something?  Your reputation, someone you loved, your friend,your health, a relationship?  Try asking!

FATHER, We come to you in Jesus name to ask you face to face for what we have been crying for, longing for.  By faith we open our hearts to you.  We are whispering in your ear the secrets of our heart…what we have longed for, what we want.

Some of us are so numb; we don’t know what we want from you.  Please move in our lives to let us wake up to desires gone dead, hopes given up or denied.  Let us feel your love and acceptance in places where shame wants to silence us.  Hear the cry of our hearts and bring healing.

In the name of the Son of David, Messiah, Lord Jesus Himself.  Amen

Sandy Burdick