Grown Up's Guide to Prayerনমুনা

Day 7: Lord, I Want to See 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I want to see you as you are. Help me see others the way you see them. I want to see clearly so I can live according to your will.

Reading

We learned on Day 1 that when we pray, our Father in heaven sees us. But do we see him?

The Gospels are full of examples of people who didn’t understand Jesus—thus they couldn’t see the Father. The religious leaders did not understand Jesus. Neither did the wealthy man who asked Jesus how he could inherit eternal life, even when Jesus extended him the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Luke 18:22)

This was a literal invitation to follow Jesus and to join his group. Jesus invited the rich man to watch God’s plan unfold before his eyes. But the rich man couldn’t see beyond his wealth, and he walked away. 

Even Jesus’s closest followers were slow to understand Jesus. For three years, the disciples listened to Jesus, camping, walking, and eating with him. But their experiences, upbringing, and culture blinded them to what the Son of God was there to do. They thought they knew, but they were wrong. It wasn’t until after Jesus’s resurrection that the pieces finally started coming together for them, that Jesus came for the whole world, and the good news was for everybody. It would take 20 years, the conversion of Saul, and hundreds of Gentile converts before they fully embraced the implications of Jesus’s new command . . . in essence, by love, people will know you’re my follower. 

“By this everyone will know that you’re my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)

Jesus’s closest followers had front-row seats, and, for a long time, they failed to see. If you’re a Jesus follower, the disciples’ inability to see Jesus clearly should fill you with some concern and trepidation. It should take the edge off any theological smugness. It should cause you to wonder: Where do I have Jesus wrong? Who am I to think I have it all figured out? 

We’re better off waking up every day and approaching every relationship and decision with our hands and hearts wide open to the reality that we only know what we know. And there’s a lot we don’t know. We can only see what we see, and there’s more to be seen. That requires humility, a virtue Jesus lives by and highlights. To borrow from the Old Testament prophet Micah, we’re called to “walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). 

The opposites of humility—pride and arrogance—camouflage our blindness. So does a personal-righteousness approach to faith. Our pasts, personalities, and preconceived notions can color and distort our ability to see accurately. We build walls, declare them impenetrable. Our assumptions are set in stone. This is how it’s done, we say. This is how faith works. 

Our faith fails to mature. Our prayers fail to grow up.

Or . . . we can walk humbly with our God. 

There’s a short prayer you can add to your current prayer routine. Versions of it appear throughout Scripture. A blind man, Bartimaeus, who encountered Jesus had a version. Bartimaeus was sitting by the roadside begging when Jesus passed by. He called out: 

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:38)

Jesus stopped, and when Bartimaeus was brought to him, Jesus asked the blind man: 

“What do you want me to do for you?” (Luke 18:41)

What follows is Bartimaeus’s prayer. It’s short and sweet and right to the point. 

“Lord, I want to see.” (Luke 18:41)

Do you want to see? Do you want to see what you can’t see now, even if it requires letting go—even if it requires admitting you’ve been wrong? 

Jesus immediately restored the blind man’s sight. And what did Bartimaeus do? He did what those who can’t see beyond their reputation, wealth, ideology, or theology refuse to do. He followed Jesus. He could see.

Seeing is clarifying. Sometimes, it’s terrifying. Seeing usually asks something of us: compassion, generosity, an apology. But the alternative is to live in the dark. If we’re in the dark, we might miss Jesus. We might misunderstand him. We might even attempt to use him. 

As we’ve learned, the purpose of prayer is to align our will with God’s will. That becomes much easier when we see the world and the people in the world the way he does. 

So . . . ask God to let the things that bring him joy, bring you joy. Ask him to let the things that break his heart, break yours. 

Ask God for the courage to help you see. Ask him to help you see so you don’t build a temple to a god who doesn’t exist. Ask God to help you see as he sees, so you respond to others in a way that honors him. 

It’s human nature to resist things we don’t understand or can’t control. We cling to the comfortable. Following Jesus requires movement and growth. Following Jesus frees us to see as the Father sees. 

Grown-up prayer, the way Jesus invites us to pray, sets us up for that. A “Your will be done” prayer breaks down our resistance, pride, and stubbornness. So, go ahead, ask him:

Heavenly Father, I want to see. I want to see so I can live a “your will be done” life.

Reflection

Can you name a blind spot—something that’s keeping you from seeing clearly? Does this distorted ideal or belief stem from your past, your personality, or your preconceived notions? Have you ever clung to it so tightly that it’s damaged a relationship? Are you ready to ask God to move you toward growth and understanding in this area?