Mark 10:46-52

In Mark 10:46-52, we read the story of Jesus healing blind Bartimaeus. Three of the Gospels tell this story, but my favourite is in Mark (GNT version), so that's the one I'm going to focus on.

Just briefly, I want to give an overview of the story before I go into the lesson that I want to give from it. In this story, we see Jesus and the disciples on a journey, and the people they pass know about Jesus and the things that He has done so far. A crowd gathers, and blind Bartimaeus is part of this crowd. Bartimaeus wants to be healed, so he calls out to Jesus, trying to get His attention. The other people in the crowd scold him and tell him to be quiet, but Bartimaeus shouts even louder. Jesus notices, and calls Bartimaeus over, then heals him, and in verse 52 we read that Bartimaeus, now able to see, follows Jesus on the road.

The reason that I have put this post in 'Prayer and worship' rather than 'Bible', is because I think it gives us two really good pieces of advice about how to pray for ourselves: desperation and simplicity.

Bartimaeus is desperate to see again, which is why he shouts out to Jesus when he hears that He is passing by. He doesn't even stop when he is scolded, but he shouts even louder (verse 48). This kind of desperation shows how much he wants to be heard by Jesus, and how much he recognises that he needs Jesus. I love when, in verse 50, after Jesus calls Bartimaeus up, Mark writes that Bartimaeus "jumped up". You can just imagine someone jumping to their feet in excitement and rushing over, because his desperation to be heard has been answered. It it his desperation that causes Jesus to notice him, and ultimately heal him, because - as Jesus says in verse 52 - this desperation shows how strong Bartimaeus' faith was, that he would keep on shouting until he was heard and called over.

The second lesson from this story is to pray with simplicity. In verse 51, when Bartimaeus reaches Jesus, Jesus asks Bartimaeus what He can do for him. At this point, Bartimaeus could have gone on and on and on about what he wants; he could have asked not just to be able to see, but to have riches beyond his wildest dreams, or popularity, or anything. But Bartimaeus doesn't do this. He simply says, "Teacher, I want to see again". Sometimes we can go on and on in prayer, giving a long description of exactly what we want, when really we should just get to the point and pray simply but truthfully.

The story of Bartimaeus is one of a person who was thought not proper; he was told off for shouting out to the Lord, but in the end it was him who was called over and healed. Maybe we should all spent a little more time shouting out to the Lord, rather than feeling as though we have to be quiet.