Don’t Listen to the Voices!
By Susan Klein
“Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus
was going by, they shouted, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!’ The crowd
rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder…”
Matthew 20:30-31a (NIV)
Have you ever been
wrongfully rebuked? Many years ago, I told a young couple that I was praying
for them. They had gotten married under difficult circumstances, and rough
roads were ahead. The wife (not a Christ-follower) told me that she “didn’t
need my prayers,” and that I should immediately stop! I felt rebuked. Hurt
even. Why was she threatened by my prayer? I was only trying to be an
encouragement and help. She would not speak to me afterward, and did not want
her husband to have any contact with me either.
At first, I felt
wounded by her words, not knowing how to respond. Eventually, my hurt turned to
anger, making me not even want to pray for her anymore. But God softened my
heart. He showed me that her actions were evidence that she REALLY needed
prayer! I chose to ignore her rebuke and continued to pray, unbeknownst to
them.
How often do we give
up on our petitions to God? Maybe it’s not even due to the hurtful words of
others, but because of the enemy’s voice in our heads telling us that we’re not
deserving of God’s help, or that He’s tarried so long that He’s not going to
answer us anyway. Have you been there? Have you heard the taunting voice that
tells you to give up? Or the one that says, “you’re not worthy of His time?”
Don’t listen to the
voices! The blind men in the story above were wrongfully rebuked, and could
have sat silently as Jesus passed by, thinking themselves unworthy. But they
didn’t. The rest of their story shows they shouted all the louder and Jesus
stopped to listen. He even chose to heal them, restoring their eyesight.
The rest of my story
with the young couple…he eventually became a Christ-follower and years later
thanked me for my prayers.
When you feel you’ve
prayed your last prayer over a seemingly hopeless situation, don’t give up!
Don’t believe the voices, verbal or non-verbal, that would have you quit or
fall into despair. ‘Shout all the louder’ to the Lord if you must! He IS
listening, and He desires to hear from us.
GOING DEEPER:
1. What hinders you from “praying
without ceasing?”
2. How might you adopt a habit of
tuning out any discouraging “voices?”
FURTHER
READING:
Susan is married to Mark, and
co-leads an in-home small group. She serves as a mentor to younger women, and
is a member of Oakwood’s Peace Team, helping people work through conflict.
