Luke 18:41 Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.
Jesus Knows What Mercy you Need
Good communication means saying exactly what you mean, nothing more, nothing less, and nothing different. That is why communication is primarily a discipline of the mind. It is not so much that we have to think about the right words as it is we have to think clearly so that we can know what words to choose. I have found that it is easy to hide behind words instead of being clear with a meaning. Often, being plain and simple is just a matter of being clear in your own mind.
In Luke 18, we see this truth applied to the matter of prayer. A blind man was by the highway begging. Verse 38 says, “And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” Well, that was a good request, but it was also very general. He was asking for mercy, but don’t we all need mercy? Are you blind and begging? Is that your need today? It may not be, yet you need mercy just as this man did.
Sometimes we pray generally when we should be praying more specifically. The question is not, “Does Jesus understand?” The question is, “Am I being clear in my own mind what it is for which I am asking? Am I clear about what kind of mercy I want?”
Verses 39-41 say, “And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, saying, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?” The blind man had already told Jesus what he wanted; he wanted mercy, yet that wasn’t enough. The blind man said, “That I may receive my sight.”
All of us need mercy, and Jesus knows just the kind you need. Are you being clear with yourself about what it is that you are asking the Lord Jesus to do? What kind of mercy do you need? All of us need mercy no matter what our circumstance in life. Sometimes we think that the most we can do is pray in a general way, but when it is a specific kind of mercy we need, it is well for us to think clearly about what it is for which we are asking. Then we can humbly come to the Lord to ask for His answer.