It is a popular tale in which some powerful being steps into an ordinary person’s life and grants them free wishes for some reason or another. I am sure it is popular because there are so many of them. There is the fisherman who catches a fish that grants him ever increasingly better homes to live in. Or the woodsman who is about to cut down a tree but is stopped by a fairy. It is the fairy’s favorite oak tree, and she offers him three wishes to cut down a different one. But of all those stories, Aladdin and his magic lamp is the most popular and well-known.
In that story, a young man comes into possession of a mysterious lamp and starts to polish it. Suddenly, a genie appears before him, saying, “Ask whatever you wish, and it’ll be done for you.” He starts small initially, but as the story unfolds, he begins to use the genie’s power in more grandiose ways, and gains more wealth and power, all in an effort to marry the sultan’s daughter. Happy ending. As we grow up, stories like these lose their luster. We realize they are just fairy tales, and no one will ever stand before us and change our life by granting us wishes. We all know that you have to work for what you get; you have to labor with your own hands. We set out in life believing that whatever you get will come as a result of your efforts and your energy.
But wait, let’s read the Bible for a minute. Jesus regularly gives us lavish commands and promises in his prayers. If you believe, you’ll receive whatever you ask for in prayer. Ask, and it will be given to you so that your joy may be complete. Though our passage today is not directly about our prayer life, it is relevant. Jesus stands before us and asks, “What do you want me to do for you?”
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And how different Jesus is from Aladdin’s genie. Aladdin’s genie is a slavish power that does whatever the human master wants. That is not what I read of God in the Bible, my friends. Thanks be to God that we don’t get everything we ask for. Thanks be to God that neither you nor I run the universe. In his wisdom, God will filter our requests and prayers and do what is best for us.
In that sense, we will never have access to a genie-like figure, and yet ...
Bartimaeus lived his life in the dark, begging for the help (and coins) of others—until he met Jesus. Not bashful, he shouts, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” People try to shut him down, but he won’t have it, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Here is the part that grabbed me: Jesus says, “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus recently asked two of his disciples the same question (Mark 10:36). They said they wanted places of honor in heaven, and he replied, “You don’t know what you are asking.”
But Bartimaeus pleads, “Rabbi, I want to see.” Bartimaeus knew what he needed, and he got it. Jesus’ followers were, in a very real way, the ones in the dark.
No single Christian reading this asks enough of Jesus. Despite the over-ask by the two disciples, we, most of us, under-ask. We ask for less than we should. We ask with less specificity. We ask with less confidence than we should.
I want to change that today by the power of the Word of God. I want us to see Jesus continually standing before us, saying, “What do you want me to do for you?” I know he will filter our requests. I am sure he will do what’s best for us. Still, we should be asking more and more with greater and greater intensity. So, what do you want Jesus to do for you today?
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Please Pray for: African Radio Ministry as they continue to reach believers, new villages, and new prisons with the gospel of Christ in both West and East Africa
Please Thank God for: Ongoing leadership across the congregation
Please Pray for: Our current shut-ins – Leela, Joyce and Grace
Please Continue to Pray for: all those who have sustained injury or property damage because of the rain and the flooding
Please Pray for: Pastor Jeff Carlson, who underwent surgery because of cancer
Please Pray for: Jim and Norma Wiest. Norma has been diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis
Please Pray for: Bob Zellmer, as his timeframe gets adjusted
Please Pray for: Faye, who has and ongoing medical condition
Please Pray for: Guidance for Alric and his continued time in Texas
Please Thank God for: Returning guests at our congregation here in Miramar
Please Pray for: Joey, who is recovering from surgery
Please Pray for: Robert, who has been diagnosed with sinus cancer
Please Pray for: Joyce Brosch, and her ongoing therapy
Please Pray for: Geri Nay, who is struggling with chemo and heart problems
Please Pray for: Kristi, who is undergoing treatment
Please Pray for: Kathy Duitsman, who has breast cancer
Please Thank God for: all those who lift us up in prayer
Please Pray for: Leela Izzo, that God would strengthen and heal her
Please Pray for: Jarrett, who is recovering from a traumatic brain injury, and his mother, Heather, who is caring for him
Please Pray for: Those who have suffered the loss of a loved one, including Bob Beastrom
Please Pray for: Those who struggle with housing needs
Please pray for: all those who are out of work