he began to cry out, and say, Jesus,
thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
Mark 10:47
And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way. Mark 10:46-52.Like other "stories" from the Bible that many of us have heard from early childhood, I wonder which of us today have overlooked the significance of this one, also? The scriptures there in Mark 10 don't tell us how long Bartimaeus had been blind, but I want you to understand something: for however long it was, he didn't let that stop him from crying out that day, did he? For an "unsighted" man, he was truly focused, Amen?
How many of us have let our circumstances keep us from crying out to Jesus? Our friends advise, "Well, you've been that way for years now. It must be God's Will. Just accept it and go on." Or we say to ourselves, "There's nothing I can do about it. It's my lot in life." Others project the attitude of, "You brought it on yourself, it's your just dessert." All Blind Bartimaeus knew was (1) he was blind; (2) he didn't want to be blind any more; (3) the One Who could do something about it was passing by; and (4) he was going to get Jesus' attention, however many times he had to cry out!
Cry Out!
In II Kings, the 20th chapter, starting at verse 1, we find another instance of crying out: In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. My, my, what news to receive--an announcement of one's own imminent death! What did the King do? Verses 2 and 3 tell us what King Hezekiah did: Then he (King Hezekiah) turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying, I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. The literal version of the Bible tells us "And wept Hezekiah with a weeping great." He cried out to God!
Now look what happened, there in Verses 4 and 5: And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord. Before the prophet Isaiah ever passed through the middle court, God turned him around with a "revised" message for the king: ...I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee... It wasn't that King Hezekiah cried a lot--there have been times in my life that I've cried dry pillows wet and nothing changed--it was that he HUMBLED HIMSELF BEFORE GOD and cried out TO GOD in all sincerity!
When our oldest daughter, Tiffany, not quite seven months pregnant with her second child, was rushed to the hospital where labor quickly advanced to the last stages, we began to cry out to God! He was already there, and can do all things--we had miles and miles to go, and could do nothing to change the gravity of their situation when we did get there! He is the One Who has the power and authority over every situation--we cried out! To the amazement of the doctors, labor stopped, the hemorraging stopped, and within 24 hours, which is the time they said they needed, the baby had turned into the correct position. They were able to find and remove a large fibroid tumor when the baby was taken by c-section.
Have Mercy On Me!
Folks, we dance all around an issue when we pray, don't we? We have an air of self-assigned martyrdom--"Well, it's just my lot in life. Poor poor me." King Hezekiah didn't do that, did he? He didn't sit down in a corner, throw his shawl over his head and meekly say, "Well, it must be the Will of God." He cried out and got results!
Let's face it, come on now, most of the time we would rather complain than rejoice, Amen? You can't get pity when you're rejoicing and we thrive on that pity, don't we? Certainly, there may be those times that we don't know what we need, but Romans 8:26 tells us that God has a provision in place for us, then, too: Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Blind Bartimaeus knew what he wanted: he wanted to see. When Jesus asked him, "What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?" Bartimaeus gave Him a SPECIFIC answer: "Lord, that I might receive my sight." King Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying, I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. If you wanted your husband to take your car and put gas in it, would you say to him, "Dear, my car needs SOMEthing so I can drive it tomorrow"? Of course not! You would be specific with him, Amen?
Not long ago, a load I had carried for some time grew more than I could bear. I want you understand something, folks: sometimes God allows us to just amble along, under our own steam, getting bogged down in the mire of frustration and helplessness, until we realize WE are LESS THAN NOTHING without Him! And sometimes it takes just that before we will cry out to Him, Amen?
More Than We Can Bear? points out the error so many of us have long operated under: "God won't put more on you than you can bear." That is NOT what it says! I ask you again, "If we could do everything we need done in our lives all by ourselves, WHY would we ever NEED God?" Blind Bartimaeus could not restore his own sight--He cried out his need to the One Who could! King Hezekiah could not lengthen his own life--He cried out to the One Who could!
After an especially trying period of time, I began to cry out, "Oh God, deliver me!" Within a few short weeks, without any discussion or chaos, a decision was "suddenly" made, and circumstances took a major turn: I was delivered. Don't misunderstand me: I had tried all kinds of solutions--for years! But it was when I cried out to God, and left the modus operandi up to Him that I got delivered! That doesn't mean Satan won't rear his ugly head again and try to cause problems ever again, but the Word of God tells us that God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Psalm 46:1-3, 10,11. My friends, we have a Heavenly Father Who LOVES US, Who is merciful to hear our prayers, and is willing to do that which we need done!
Bowing To Peer Pressure
Blind Bartimaeus didn't bow to the pressure of those around him who tried to get him to be quiet. Mark 10:48 tells us, ...but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. The NIV puts it this way: "Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more..." When the doctors told us that Sunday morning that they needed more time for our daughter and grandbaby's benefit, folks were standing around saying, "Well, I sure hope we get it." We said we were going to pray; folks said, "Oh there's no need for that. We're hoping for the best." Nah, not good enough--my youngest daughter and I went out into that hospital hallway and talked to the Giver of Time. You can well believe it, we didn't bother with a polite prayer of particularly placed participles, either! We were "careful for nothing"--we cried out to God for them. We didn't cry out in volume of sound--we cried out in desperation of our helplessness to do what needed to be done. The doctors had tried all they knew; it was beyond their scope of skill.
CRY OUT, my friends! Don't let the influence of others, or personal pride stand in your way! I often wonder how many people go home from church feeling as badly in body as when they arrived because they wouldn't ask for prayer--it might interfere with somebody's agenda? Or they were afraid of what someone else might think? Bartimaeus didn't care what others' agenda was--he didn't want to be blind any more! He persisted. When the first time he called didn't get the Master's attention, he called again and again. He kept on calling, until he got an answer from the One Who had the answer. He did NOT cry out with the attitude of "Don't know why I'm doing this--it ain't never gonna change!" He cried out with determination to be heard over the noise and busyness of the crowd--he was determined to break through to Christ. He couldn't see to do it physically, but with all that he had in him, he cried out. Are we willing to do that? To cry out with all that is within us?
NEVER Give Up!
Turn in your Bibles with me to the 10th chapter of Daniel. Daniel had been praying for 21 days. That's right: TWENTY-ONE days. How many of us will pray for the same thing even the second time? We figure if we don't get what we want the first time we ask, we're just "wasting our time" to ask again. I want you to see that the angel that came to Daniel said to him, "...from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words."
Did you catch that phrase, "...from the first day...thy words were heard..." there in Daniel 10:12? We give up on God because we don't always get immediate results. What if when blind Bartimaeus first called out, he gave up and didn't cry out again? What if ole' Naaman had dipped SIX times and quit? It always amazes me that we want instant answers to our prayers, but we don't want instant chastisement for our iniquities, do we? We don't live by faith, we live by sight--exactly the opposite of how we are instructed to live.
The NIV puts Daniel 10:12 like this: ..."Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them." From the VERY first day that Daniel humbled himself before God, seeking understanding, his prayer was heard and the answer was on its way to him. Yet for 21 days, Daniel persisted before the Lord. I am persuaded had it taken 21 weeks or even 21 months, ole' Daniel wouldn't have given up--he wasn't the "giving up kind" of person. I want you to notice there in verses 11 and 19 how the angel of the Lord addressed Daniel: O Daniel, a man greatly beloved... and O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong... Greatly beloved of the Lord.
You know, we give up on God, but we sure don't want Him giving up on us, do we? Pride gets us in trouble and then keeps us there because it is our own foolish pride that keeps us from crying out to God. Philippians 4:6 and 7 tells us, Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. The literal version of the Bible tells us that verse 6 says, "Be anxious about nothing, but in everything, by prayer and by petition with thanksgivings, let your requests be made known to God." Seems like all we see there is "be anxious"--we don't read far enough to get the WHOLE message: "Be anxious for NOTHING".
Anxiety--stress--worry--doubt--fear. "Well, I just don't know why the Lord is putting me through such worrisome times." It's not the Lord putting us through "worrisome times"--WE are the ones doing the worrying! Instead of us crying out to God, we moan and groan and get together with others to commiserate about how awfully bad off we are as if there were some great reward to be found in such a determination!
I want to ask you something: what did Bartimeaus, formerly "Blind Bartimaeus", do when he was given his sight? Let's turn back there to Mark 10:52 and read it: And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way. Did he stay there, by the roadside, as a beggar? Did he resume life as he had known it for all those years? Did he "go his own way" and "do his own thing"? NO, he followed Jesus in the way. His deliverance from blindness brought him out of his old circumstances into a new way of life--Jesus' way. He followed Jesus in the way. When you cry out to God, and God delivers you, MOVE OUT of those old circumstances, those old feelings, those old fears, and follow Jesus in the way.
Cry Out!
In closing today, I want you to remember this: Blind Bartimaeus didn't want to be blind any more--he cried out. When you are "ready" to be delivered, cry out. When you have grown tired of all the pity parties, the defeat, the hindrances in your life, cry out and then follow Jesus in the way! However long it takes for you to "be heard"--however long it takes for the "answer to arrive", don't quit crying out. Blind Bartimaeus didn't let pride or those around him who told him to be quiet stop him either, did he? He put all he had into crying out to the One Who could deliver him, and his faith made him whole. He believed, he cried out and he received. King Hezekiah "turned his face to the wall" and poured his heart out to God. Daniel refused to give up--he humbled himself before God and persisted in prayer.
I'm telling you, folks: don't lose out on what God can do for you: Cry out!
"Cry Out!" Copyright © 2003 by Patricia Sikes.
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