40 DAYS in the GOSPEL Sample

SPEAKING UP

I (Josiah) do not always know what my kids need. Like most parents, I find myself praying and asking other parents along the way for wisdom because so much of what I face as a dad is over my head. I will say one thing though. I usually have a pretty good idea of what they want. That doesn’t mean that I just get them what they want though. Not when one of their desires might harm them. But I am talking about something different here. It can be good for us to learn how to ask and how to be persistent.

We can see from a part of our passage today (10:46-52) that Jesus thinks so too. The blind man is commended for his persistence. Jesus tells him that his faith has made him well, and it was his faith that kept him crying out when the crowd tried to tell him to keep it to himself. Also, Jesus knew what the man needed but wanted the crowd to hear, as he asked Jesus for what only Jesus can do, give him back his sight. Jesus had called a star pupil to the front of the class to show the others, who until a moment before had contempt for the man, that this is the kind of persistent trust that honors God.

There is a lot of wisdom here for our prayer life as followers of Jesus. I have often been asked why someone should pray if God already knows everything. There is so much more to asking than simply to get information! Exercising our trust in God by making the effort to ask for what we need strengthens the bond of relationship between us and the Father. As we examine our hearts and see what we can sincerely ask God for, we learn about the many ways we need to learn to trust Him. And we develop conviction over our obsessive self-focus. We unlearn our impatient and distracted ways as we practice persistence in times of waiting and resistance. In short, we grow closer to God.

PRAY ABOUT IT: Ask the Lord to show you how you grow closer to Him by asking for the things you need. Take some time to thank Him for some of the long, hard seasons of waiting that He's helped you through, and ask for the patience you will need to stick close to Him for the next one.