There's this beautiful story in the Gospel of Mark chapter 10 where Jesus is walking. The Bible says with his disciples and with large crowds. So you can imagine anywhere Jesus went, it's kind of chaotic. Lots of crowds, lots of people going on. And as he's walking, as he's moving from one place to another, there's this man who's blind, Bartimaeus is his name. And he hears that Jesus is nearby. And this blind man gets up and he just

starts begging for Jesus. He says this, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. And you would think as

you're listening to this, like he didn't say, heal me. He didn't even ask for healing right away.

He just said, have mercy on me. God, God, if you are God, if you are the Messiah, would you have mercy on me god god if you are god if you are the if you were the messiah

would you have mercy on me so before like we even move any further in the story how many of us as

men feel like we're just sitting on the side as every the world is kind of passing along and

going around us and moving in front of us and some of us are just like I feel like the blind man on the side of the road. I'm just like crying out, God have mercy on me. But what I love about his prayer is it's theologically correct. He makes a theological statement about who Jesus is. You are Messiah. I know that, but just have mercy on me. It's not this long rant. He doesn't go into all this like spiritual fluff. He doesn't say all the proper things. He just says, I know your God. I know that I have a need. Would you have mercy on me? I think we have a lot to learn from his prayer. One, you do not need to come to Jesus polished. I remember one time I was leading this group of young adults in a Bible study and there was a young girl there who was struggling with addiction and she had maybe been to church like two times before this and she came into our group and we're studying the Bible and we get done and we're like, you know, just kind of praying as a group and all of a sudden she starts to pray and I imagine she hasn't prayed very often and especially has not prayed in a church setting very often.

And as she's praying, she's literally dropping the F word.

And I just kind of like peek open my eyes and I'm looking around. And you can tell all these church folk are just like, we don't know what to do in this situation. We have not been in this situation before. And as much as it kind of freaked everybody out, there was a part of me that was like, yeah, you know, this isn't probably appropriate for church. But there's something about it that I love because she was so genuine and so honest. She did not polish up her prayer. She was coming to Jesus with the vocabulary that she had, with the needs that she had, and when she was being so authentic about it. And it leads me to my second point in the story because as

Bartimaeus cries out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on him. You know what the crowd does? You know what the religious people do? Tell them to be quiet. And there are going to be times in your life where you have a real legitimate need. You feel desperate. And something inside of you is going to say, just be quiet. dude you you're a dad, you're a husband, you're a Bible study leader, you go to church, maybe you feel the silent pressures of other people around you like, hey, dude, I just need you to keep your life together because we really need you as a volunteer or we really need you at work. And you have to make the decision, am I going to stay silent or am I going to beg in desperation for Jesus to heal me?

And Bartimaeus does the second. I'm not going to stay silent. I'm not going to let other people

shut me down. I need Jesus to show up in my life. And some of you, man, are at that spot.

I can't stay quiet anymore. I need Jesus to show up in my life today. And then Jesus calls for the man. As everyone's telling Bartimaeus, hey, sit down, be quiet. Jesus says, no, I want to talk to him. And Jesus goes up to him and listen to the question he asks him. He says, what do you want me to do for you? Super fascinating question because Jesus obviously knows this man is blind. So he could have just said,

hey man, I appreciate you crying out to me. You're healed. But he makes Bartimaeus name his need.

What do you want me to do for you? What do you see is your greatest need? And brother, listen to me closely here. Some of you are going to Jesus and you're being very vague. God, I need help. God,

I feel tired. God, would you just help me out? And listen, I want you to imagine Jesus looking you're being very vague. God, I need help. God, I feel tired. God, would you just help me out?

And listen, I want you to imagine Jesus looking you right in the face right now and asking you,

what do you want me to do for you? Do not be vague. As Jesus asked Bartimaeus, what do you want me to do?

He names his need specifically. Will you heal my sight? And Jesus does. Some of you have been

really vague in your prayers. And I wonder today if Jesus would look you in the eye and say,

what do you want me to do for you? And today is the first day that you are going to need to be

specific. I am struggling with addiction and I need help. I am really, really lonely. I am still hurting by

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