Do You Believe? Series

This miracle story is about as straightforward as it gets, so I’d like to use it as a guide for us this morning as we think about how to bring our requests before the Lord. We begin with…

The Request itself

27As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" 28When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him,

Here are two men that have an obvious need and they bring it to Jesus, because they’ve heard that he has been healing people. What I’d like you to notice though is that these guys are nothing if not persistent. They are following Jesus—probably not an easy feat in itself for two blind men. And even when Jesus has gone indoors they follow him there, where he finally gives them his undivided attention.

An elderly lady was once asked by a young man who had grown weary in the fight, whether he ought to give up the struggle. "I am beaten every time," he said dolefully. "I feel I must give up." "Did you ever notice," she replied, smiling into the troubled face before her, "that when the Lord told the discouraged fishermen to cast their nets again, it was right in the same old spot where they had been fishing all night and had caught nothing?"

The first step in bringing a need to Jesus is making our request known. You say I’ve done that before, but the example of the blind men says, ask again. Jesus told the story of the persistent widow who wore the Judge out with her requests until the Judge gave what she wanted in order to demonstrate that we ought to be persistent with our prayers.

Why? I don’t know but maybe it’s that our faith can grow as we wait, but I do know3 that the Scripture makes plain that we should be steadfast in bringing our requests to the Lord.

Have you prayed for your unsaved loved ones for many years? Go back and cast the net again.

Have you struggled with illness and pain and asked God to set you free more times than you can count? God back and cast the net again.

Have you failed in the fight against temptation even though you’ve prayed for the victory? Go back and cast the net again.

Have mercy on us Son of David! Bring your request before the Lord. Second let’s look at the Lord’s…

The Requirement

28When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"

"Yes, Lord," they replied.

29Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you"

As we’ve seen in so many of these miracle stories, the requirement is faith. Faith is intricately woven into God’s plan to move in miraculaous ways.

Yet as I have done before, let me make a caveat—Jesus can choose to operate without the requirement of faith as well—as the very next story demonstrates. the must man was brought to Jesus. There’s no record that he exercised any faith at all.

Nevertheless, In the story of the blind men Jesus again pinpoints the men’s faith as the reason for their healing. "According to your faith will it be done to you"

They came with a big need but they came believing. What about you. many of you have come this morning with big needs. have you come believing?

A student once purchased a new mechanical pencil. After some time he found himself in the middle of an important test, and his pencil ran out of lead! There was a great deal of frustration and anguish as he wasted precious minutes going around to other students trying to borrow another pencil. Later the student found out that his new pencil was designed with a complete supply of extra lead inside that could be dispensed with a mere press of the button.

Christians are often like this student: although they have all of God’s sufficiency available to them, because of lack of knowledge they do not draw on it in their time of need. Faith must be linked to knowledge to be exercised and to grow.

In his book The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis notes how believers often underestimate the full riches God has for His children. "...If we consider...the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures...like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."