One Question We’re All Asking
If you’re reading this and you’ve been a believer in Jesus for a long time, or if you’re reading this and you’re not sure if you really believe in God at all, chances are there’s one question that we’re all asking.
It’s the question that may be the number one reason many people choose to never believe in Jesus. Because they don’t know how to answer this question.
It’s the same question that those of us who do believe, it’s one of the primary reasons we believe. Because we’ve experienced something in our life that is unexplainable and can only be attributed to the fact that we think we know the answer to this question.
Here’s the question I think everyone on earth will ask at some point in their life.
Some ask it from a hospital room.
Others ask it on their knees beside their bed.
Some people ask it driving down the highway in tears.
Others ask it when they are at the end of their rope.
But there comes a point in every person’s life when they ask this question:
Does God hear me when I pray?
Can You Hear Me Now?
The other day I was driving somewhere and I was talking to my wife on the phone. She was telling me something and I’m sure it was important but somewhere along the way the call dropped.
She thought I was still listening, she was still talking, but I wasn’t listening. I waited for a few seconds, then I ended the call and… called her back.
And you know the first thing I said when she answered?
It’s the thing everybody says, it’s the same five words we’ve all said since 2002 when this guy started making commercials for Verizon. I said, “Can you hear me now?”
Why? Because…
When we talk what we want is someone to listen.
Does Anyone Really Listen Anymore?
We live in a world where everyone is secretly asking this question. We wonder if anyone is listening to us, if anyone can hear us, really hear us.
Does anyone really listen to anyone any more?
It seems like, more and more, we live in a world where it’s about who can yell the loudest. If you watch the news, even if you just watch ESPN, it’s hard to know what’s going on anymore because there’s always a panel of people who are essentially yelling opinions at each other.
Social media has become a platform where people feel free to say whatever they want to say and announce it as truth.
More and more people are feeling isolated and alone and it may be because no one really listens to anyone any more.
Even when we talk to each other, we spend more time thinking about what we’re going to say in response than we do just listening and receiving what another person is saying.
We assume we know what people think, what people are about, what people are like, without ever taking the time to really lean in and just listen.
And so it’s no wonder that we wonder if God listens.
Good News About God
If that’s the question your asking today, if you’ve ever asked that question, or maybe there is someone in your life and that’s the question they’re wrestling with today, I’ve got Good News for you today…
When Jesus came from Heaven to Earth and walked the planet, he showed us in a very literal way what God is like. In fact, if you’ve ever wondered about what God is like, let me encourage you to take a look at Jesus.
Today I want to look at one story about Jesus that… if we believe what we say we believe about Jesus, then this is one of those stories that changes everything for us.
In Luke 18 we have this story about Jesus that answers one of those questions that people have been asking since the beginning of time.
“Does God hear me when I pray?”
We ask this question because when we pray what we want is to know that God is listening.
Luke 18.35-43, NLT
35 As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind beggar was sitting beside the road.
At this point in the story, Jesus is on His way TO Jerusalem. We’re near the end of the story and most of us know how this story ends, we know what awaits Jesus in Jerusalem. Jesus is walking towards Jerusalem but you know and I know what He’s walking toward is the cross.
To get to Jerusalem He has to go past Jericho. It’s on the way. And it’s not uncommon to find beggars outside the city sitting alongside the road asking for alms, a little money to help them get by.
This was their welfare system. People who could not work for whatever reason, perhaps they’re blind, lame, or dealing with something else that prevents them from working and providing for themselves and for their family, this is the only option. To beg.
I don’t know if you ever passed by someone begging on the road before, or if you’ve ever been the person on the road begging for help before, but I imagine this man not only knew he was blind but he probably felt invisible, too.
He couldn’t see the people passing by, but the people passing by didn’t want to see him.
They looked the other way. They didn’t want to acknowledge his presence. It was easier to just keep walking and not make eye contact.
Can you spare the time?
A few years ago I went with a group to Denver, CO to work with the Denver Dry Bones ministry. I didn’t know this, but Denver has one of the highest populations of homeless adolescents in the US. And Denver Dry bones is working to help these teenagers who literally have no where else to turn for help.
We spent a week getting to know people, serving and helping where we could, and building relationships. Part of that experience was getting to experience, at least for a few hours, what it would be like to be homeless in Denver.
They dressed us in different clothes. Dropped us off in a downtown area. And then instructed us, instead of asking for money, to ask people this question, “Can you spare the time?” And every time someone tells you what time it is, that will be like you got a quarter, 25 cents. Your goal is to get enough money to buy a hamburger at McDonalds.
None of us were able to get enough people to spare the time so we could buy a hamburger at McDonalds.
Why? Because, there are certain people in our city that we have turned a blind eye towards. There are certain people that we have stopped seeing, stopped hearing, who have become invisible to us.
But not to Jesus.
The Blind Man and the Crowd
This blind beggar is sitting in the same spot he probably sat in everyday, hoping people would spare enough change to help him buy a little food to get by.
36 When he heard the noise of a crowd going past, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him that Jesus the Nazarene was going by. 38 So he began shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
What do you do when you’re walking with the person who may be the most important person you’ve ever been around. This is who Jesus was to these people who are walking with Him. They’ve never seen anyone like Jesus, never been around anyone like Him before. He says things no one else has ever said. He’s doing things no one else has ever done.
And now there is a blind beggar shouting at him!
Well you know what the people following Jesus did. Exactly what people who follow Jesus should do. They yelled at Him!
39 “Be quiet!” the people in front yelled at him.
Surely Jesus has more important things to do, more important people to attend to, more important obligations to get to.
But that didn’t stop this blind man…
But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
The crowd’s discouragement did not disparage his attempt to get Jesus’ attention.
And notice, he doesn’t just call out the name of Jesus, he calls Jesus the Son of David.
That’s an important detail Luke shares in the story. To call Jesus the Son of David was to call Jesus God’s Messiah!
Somehow, this blind man could see something no one else could see.
He may have been blind but he was the only one who knew Jesus wasn’t just from Nazareth, He is from God. He is the Son of David, God’s Messiah.
And so he cries out with everything within him, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
By the way, if you ever struggle to know what to pray, to know what to say to Jesus in prayer, you might want to borrow this prayer from the blind beggar, “Jesus Messiah, have mercy on me.”
The blind man cries out to Jesus, and then the entire story turns on what Luke says happened next.
The Blind Man and Jesus
40 When Jesus HEARD him, he STOPPED and ordered that the man be brought to him.
Did you know, Jesus hears your voice above the noise.
When you say His name He stops to listen.
When you cry out He comes near.
It would have been enough for this blind man to meet Jesus.
It would have been enough to say he had a conversation with God’s Messiah.
It would have been an epic story he would have told his grandkids and his grandkids would have told their grandkids!
But don’t miss this, Jesus didn’t just want to come near. Jesus HEARD the man, he SAW the man, and Jesus CARED about the man.
He cared so much he asked him this question. And this is the question that changed absolutely everything for him forever.
As the man came NEAR, Jesus ASKED him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?”
When Jesus HEARD.
He STOPPED.
The man came NEAR.
Jesus ASKED… “What do you want me to do for you?”
You might think, Jesus, that’s a dumb question. But, Jesus doesn’t ask dumb questions.
No doubt, everyone there that day knew what that man wanted and what that man needed, including Jesus.
But, Jesus asked the question. Why?
Faith
Jesus is not like a genie in a bottle waiting to grant your every wish. No. Jesus is the Sovereign Lord who came to make all things right and all things new. He is with us. He is for us. And his invitation to us is to participate with him in making all things right and all things new. Even in our own healing.
Luke wants to show us what happens when Jesus comes near. When He came and when He comes again, Jesus us always about making all things right an all things new!
Jesus gives the man through faith the opportunity to participate in his own healing.
Jesus asks this blind man this question not because He needed information, but because He wanted to give this man the opportunity to confess his faith by making his request.
And by asking Jesus to do something only God could do, only the Son of God could do, this man confessed His faith in Jesus, the Son of David, God’s Messiah.
“Lord,” he said, “I want to see!”
I WANT TO SEE!
Talk about a faith filled statement. A faith filled request! This man asked Jesus to do the impossible.
But, Who else can make the lame walk, the deaf hear, the blind see? Only Jesus.
He told Jesus what he wanted knowing Jesus could do it.
And Jesus did for the man exactly what he wanted him to do for him.
Why? Because Jesus is for us. He listens when we pray . He HEARS US.
42 And Jesus said, “All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.” 43 Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God.
Crying Out
When was the last time you cried out to God?
When was the last time you asked Jesus for the impossible?
In 1978, a man by the name of Rod Saunders received a life changing surgery. He had been involved in a car accident that left him completely deaf.
He could no longer hear the voice of his children when they needed him. It was life altering in the worst possible way. He now lived in a world of silence. He felt isolated. Alone. And in so many ways, without hope.
What Rod didn’t know was that there was a man, a professor by the name of Graeme Clark who was already working on a solution to his problem. Rod didn’t know Professor Clark, and Professor Clark didn’t know Rod, at least not yet. But Professor Clark had made it his life’s work to help those who could not hear.
You see, Professor Clark had watched as his own father slowly lost his hearing due to old age and it broke his heart.
In 1978, Rod Saunders became the very first person in the world to receive a multi-channel cochlear implant.
Most people wouldn’t take the chance. Most people believed it wouldn’t work. Most people thought they would be disappointed. So they chose to live in a world of silence rather than take a chance on a miracle. But not Rod. He jumped at the chance.
Why? In his own words he said, “I would like to be able to hear something again.”
And he did. Thanks to Professor Clark’s research and new technology, Rod was able to hear the voices of his children when they asked for help, when they called out his name.
He Hears Us
You don’t have to ask God, “Can you hear me now?” God hasn’t lost his hearing.
He doesn’t need a device to hear His children. When you call, He comes near.
Some of you have been talking to God and you’re wondering, Can you hear me now? Are you listening? Do you care? Do you see what I’m going through? Do you know what I’m up against? Do you care?
Some of you have stopped talking to God because you feel like you’ve been disappointed by God. Or maybe you feel disappointed by the people of God. You’ve decided God doesn’t care, God doesn’t see, God doesn’t know, and God doesn’t hear you when you pray.
We live in a world that has stopped listening, a world that has gone deaf, a world where people would rather yell their opinions than listen to someone else’s heart.
But God is not like that. And if you want to know what God is like, take a look at Jesus.
Jesus hears your cries above the crowd.
And Jesus cares.
And if we believe what we say we believe, this changes everything. Because the God of the Universe does listen when you pray. He is deeply interested in what you desperately need.
Jesus is intimately aware and actively involved in the details of your life.
And yes, sometimes he responds to your requests immediately… just like Jesus did in this moment with this man who was blind who received his sight.
And other times, it appears we have to wait.
And then there are those times, when it feels like God isn’t responding to what we’re asking.
But never mistake God’s perceived silence as God being deaf to your requests. God is not deaf. He hears you when you pray.
From vs. Of
At the end of the day, this is what we do and this is what we believe. We talk to God. We make our requests known to God. We trust Him. And then, we wait for Him to work.
You see, here’s the secret to prayer that most people miss. It’s not about getting what we want FROM God. It’s about stepping into the presence OF God.
And there, in the light of His presence, we are changed.
By the way, here’s the rest of the story. After the blind man was healed, this is what Luke says happens next…
And all who saw it praised God, too.
Your healing may be the prompting someone needs to see so they can praise God!
You may say, “But I haven’t been healed yet!”
But as we step into the presence of Jesus in prayer, as we make our request known to Him, we are transformed more and more into his image. And as we are, others will see our transformation and they will praise God.
So may we be changed, healed, transformed as we spend time over time in the presence of Jesus and may others praise our God as they witness our changed lives.
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