Let Your Voice Be Heard Until You Receive What You Need

Mark 10:46-52 & Psalm 27:7,13-14

Be persistent when you need something to happen; make sure God hears your voice getting louder and louder until He responds

Soul Food

“Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’

Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.’ So they called to the blind man, ‘Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.’ Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

 ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, ‘Rabbi, I want to see.’

‘Go,’ said Jesus, ‘your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.”

– Mark 10:46-52 (NIV)

“Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me…. I remain confident of this: 

I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

– Psalm 27:7,13,14 (NIV)

Soul Search

• Would you describe yourself as someone who is, or who can be, persistent?
  If you aren’t someone who is persistent, do you know why you aren’t?  
  If you are persistent, do you know why you are? 

• When you reach out to someone asking them to get back to you, do you easily give up and stop pursuing them if they don’t readily get back to you? 
  Are you someone who is prone to making up stories in your own head as to why you aren’t hearing back? If you are prone to do that then welcome to the human race.
  After all, we all have the tendency to let our minds run wild.

• Could it be possible that God doesn’t want you to give up on people – or on Him – quite so quickly or easily?

• Does your lack of persistence carry over into your relationship with God? When you ask Him for things in prayer how ready are you to give up if you don’t get the answer you want right away? 

• Do you think you should consider being more persistent with God?

Soul Moves

• If being persistent is something you don’t do so well, I encourage you to practice at it.
  Do your best to hear what God wants you to do when it comes to some of your relationships, but ask Him if you’re to be more persistent in some of your relationships before you completely write people off. 

• If you do believe God wants you to be more persistent with some people, then come up with a schedule to touch base with them every-so-often.
  Let go of your preconceived thoughts about why they aren’t getting back to you and assume the best.
  You might just keep some relationships alive that are being threatened with extinction.

• Examine carefully the things that you’ve believed God for but gave up on or quit asking Him about after the answer(s) to those things you were looking for didn’t come about right away.
  Make a determined effort to not give up so easily on people or situations that you’re believing God to have an impact on.
  You might just discover you’re only one prayer or phone call away from the answer you’ve been waiting for.