Action and passion in prayer
Dr. Roberto Miranda
SUMMARY: Our prayers should be accompanied by bold actions and expressed with passion and commitment. In the story of Blind Bartimaeus, we see these elements as he passionately cries out to Jesus despite criticism, takes desperate action, and declares his specific request for sight. Jesus responds to his faith and grants his request. Our prayers should be born from a heart that has incubated and hardened them over time, which has been concentrating and reducing them through repetition and cultivation until reaching the point of becoming a smooth, super concentrated and ultra-dense pebble.
Frequently, our prayers have to be accompanied by bold actions that reinforce and support them. God expects us to pray, and then we launch ourselves to execute what we have asked as if this were already a reality. Santiago says that faith without works is dead.
In addition, our prayers should be expressed in a way that expresses passion and commitment to what we are asking for. God does not respond to indifferent and merely formal prayers. On the other hand, passionate and bold prayers move him.
In the case of Blind Bartimaeus, in Mark 10: 46-52, we see those three elements of passion, action, and petition clearly illustrated. When Bartimaeus hears that Jesus is passing by, he instinctively knows that he will have only one chance to receive the miracle that he so desperately needs. All the pain that has accumulated over decades of blindness and misery is poured into a cry of passionate petition to the Lord: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" At that time, Bartimaeus does not care about the recriminations or criticism of the people. He does not care that he is making a fool of himself by screaming like a madman at a Jesus who at first does not seem to be listening. He only lets himself be guided by his passion, his burning desire to escape his sad condition as a beggar and blind. This leads him to desperate action, to violate all the rules of etiquette and decency, to shout until he is heard, and to impose himself on the agenda of Jesus despite the rebuke of the disciples, who insistently commanded him to shut up.
When the Lord stops and sends for him, motivated by Bartimaeus' persistent and daring action, he asks him an intriguing question: "What do you want me to do to you?" Why are you asking that unnecessary question? Obviously what Bartimaeus needs is sight! God likes to listen to our verbalized requests, declared in a clear and specific way, born from a heart that has incubated and hardened them over time, which has been concentrating and reducing them through repetition and cultivation until reaching the point. to turn them into a smooth, super concentrated and ultra dense pebble. When we present to the Lord that humble but powerful product of our tears and sleeplessness, it instantly elicits a positive reaction from heaven. Bartimaeus answers the Lord without hesitation: "Master, let him regain his sight." Five words. But more than enough to provoke the long-awaited response from Jesus: "Go away, your faith has saved you." The word says that "At once he regained his sight, and was following Jesus on the road."
In addition, our prayers should be expressed in a way that expresses passion and commitment to what we are asking for. God does not respond to indifferent and merely formal prayers. On the other hand, passionate and bold prayers move him.
In the case of Blind Bartimaeus, in Mark 10: 46-52, we see those three elements of passion, action, and petition clearly illustrated. When Bartimaeus hears that Jesus is passing by, he instinctively knows that he will have only one chance to receive the miracle that he so desperately needs. All the pain that has accumulated over decades of blindness and misery is poured into a cry of passionate petition to the Lord: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" At that time, Bartimaeus does not care about the recriminations or criticism of the people. He does not care that he is making a fool of himself by screaming like a madman at a Jesus who at first does not seem to be listening. He only lets himself be guided by his passion, his burning desire to escape his sad condition as a beggar and blind. This leads him to desperate action, to violate all the rules of etiquette and decency, to shout until he is heard, and to impose himself on the agenda of Jesus despite the rebuke of the disciples, who insistently commanded him to shut up.
When the Lord stops and sends for him, motivated by Bartimaeus' persistent and daring action, he asks him an intriguing question: "What do you want me to do to you?" Why are you asking that unnecessary question? Obviously what Bartimaeus needs is sight! God likes to listen to our verbalized requests, declared in a clear and specific way, born from a heart that has incubated and hardened them over time, which has been concentrating and reducing them through repetition and cultivation until reaching the point. to turn them into a smooth, super concentrated and ultra dense pebble. When we present to the Lord that humble but powerful product of our tears and sleeplessness, it instantly elicits a positive reaction from heaven. Bartimaeus answers the Lord without hesitation: "Master, let him regain his sight." Five words. But more than enough to provoke the long-awaited response from Jesus: "Go away, your faith has saved you." The word says that "At once he regained his sight, and was following Jesus on the road."
