Date: 05-02-2020

Title: Persistence

(S) cripture:
    Matthew 20:29-34 (NASB77) And as they were going out from Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. 30 And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31 And the multitude sternly told them to be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 32 And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” 33 They •said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.” 34 And moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.    

(O) bservation:
    These men knew that Jesus could restore their sight and so as he came by, they yelled to him. The crowd tried to silence them, but they yelled even louder. They were not going to let this opportunity pass. As blind men they were most likely outcasts in that society and therefore could have been intimidated by the crowd. Not these two, they wanted to get Jesus’ attention and be healed and so they yelled over the objections of the crowd. The result of their persistence was that Jesus heard them and healed them.

(A) pplication:
    I wonder if I let the crowd dictate to me how I should act. Do I get quiet when I need to yell because my crying out to the Lord upsets the crowd? Do I let the pressure from them keep me from crying out to the Lord? Am I more concerned with being proper than being persistent? Sometimes I am those things. Today I will be persistent in my prayer. It is not a sign of a lack of faith but rather a sign that I trust you to hear me and act. Some have wrongly said that to pray about something more than once is a sign of not really trusting God, but this passage teaches us to be persistent in our prayers. Today I will be persistent in trusting in God’s power to act.

(P) rayer:
    Lord I trust you. Teach me to pray persistently and to trust in your ability and power and desire to act. Teach me to trust you completely and to never be afraid to call on you. Amen