What Do You Want Me to Do?

Jesus is walking along the dusty road when he hears loud shouting. ‘Son of David, have mercy on me,’ comes the repeated plea. Jesus stops and calls for the blind man to come to him. It seems obvious what he needs, but Jesus still asks him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Only after Bartimaeus expresses his deep longing to be healed does Jesus restore his sight.

Often I do exactly what Bartimaeus did. I pray in vague terms, asking God to ‘bless’ my family or ‘pour out mercy’ on my country. But since taking time to reflect on this passage, I have been trying to pray in more specific ways. Recently I was a speaker at a devotional-writing workshop hosted by Africa Upper Room Ministries. I normally get very nervous when I speak to a crowd, so I was worried that my voice would shake or that I would forget everything I had so carefully prepared to say. I asked God to take away all my anxiety as I stood up to speak. Only when I looked back over the morning did I realise that I had not had a single moment of nervousness. My request wasn’t as big as the one Bartimaeus made, but God still faithfully answered my specific prayer.

The story of Bartimaeus encourages us to bring all our requests to God, no matter how big or small they may be.

Prayer: Dear God, thank you for your love, faithfulness and willingness to be involved in each of our lives. Amen