Call on Jesus - The Crosswalk Devotional - May 26

Call on Jesus Because He Cares for You
 By Clarence L. Haynes Jr. 

“The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” – Matthew 20:31

If you are not familiar with the whole story here is the skinny. Jesus is leaving Jericho and two blind men were on the side of the road. When they heard Jesus was coming by, they shouted out for Jesus’ help. The crowd told these men to shut up and be quiet. Despite the size of the crowd and their rebuke, these men ignored them and shouted even louder. When they shouted louder, Jesus heard them and came to help them.

When my son was born, he had to go into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) because of some issues he faced after birth. If you have never experienced this, it takes you on an emotional roller coaster ride. Your child is born, you can hold him briefly, but then he is whisked away and put on machines to help him breathe. You can imagine the myriad of emotions that you go through, from the excitement of your child entering the world to concern wondering if he is going to make it. As a parent, especially of your firstborn child, this is a ride you don’t expect, nor do you want to stay on very long. If there was ever a time to yell stop the ride I want to get off, this was it. 

For the next few days, we went back and forth between home and the NICU. As parents who believed in God, we did what we knew we should do, we prayed. Just like the two blind men shouted for Jesus’ help, we did the same thing. Yet, as we prayed nothing seemed to happen and the situation was left unchanged. This went on for nine days. After nine days, with no apparent progress being made, in my fatigue and frustration, I shouted to God even louder and said God you must come and change this situation. The next day my son came home.

I am not sure what you are facing today. You may be in the middle of a desperate situation like mine or the two blind men. First off if you have not done so yet, you need to call on Jesus to help you in this matter, because he cares for you. But what if you have been praying, calling, and shouting out the name of Jesus for help and nothing has happened yet. What do you do? In your case, I encourage you to keep shouting. When these men heard Jesus was coming, they cried out to him and even when the crowds rebuked them, they shouted even louder. You must do the same thing.

One of the greatest challenges in prayer is we get overwhelmed, discouraged, and tired. Prayer is easy when you pray once and get the answer. However, that does not always happen. When the answer is not immediate, prayer can sometimes feel useless. In these moments, the temptation is to stop praying, to stop calling on the name of Jesus, and just give up. Should you find yourself in this place, I implore you please don’t quit. Even though the situation tries to tell you to shut up, shout even louder. 

Whatever you are facing today, put a bigger shout on it. You may feel the desire to be quiet thinking Jesus is not going to stop for you. Here is the remedy to that, shout even louder. Don't stop calling upon the Lord regardless of how much everyone around you and everything in you is telling you to be quiet. Keep on calling on his name. It may feel like God is not listening, but he is. Jesus hears you and he will come to help you in your time of need. Many times, we stop short right when we are on the doorstep of the answer to prayer. Imagine if these two blind men had listened to the crowd and stopped shouting. They would have remained blind. However, they ignored the crowd and they kept shouting, Jesus heard their cry and came to help them. He will do the same for you. I encourage you today, whatever you are facing don't let it silence you. It doesn’t matter how bad it looks, make sure you keep on shouting because Jesus hears and he is coming to help.

Intersecting Faith and Life:
When you pray and the answer does not come right away that should not be the end of your faith but the beginning of it.

Further Reading

• 10 Scriptures to Remind You: God Is with You Always
• Why You Should Be Encouraged That God Will Never Leave You
• 7 Mistakes We Make When We Pray

Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/PeopleImages

Clarence L. Haynes Jr. is a speaker, Bible teacher, and co-founder of The Bible Study Club.  He is the author of The Pursuit of Purpose which will help you understand how God leads you into his will. His most recent book is The Pursuit of Victory: How To Conquer Your Greatest Challenges and Win In Your Christian Life. This book will teach you how to put the pieces together so you can live a victorious Christian life and finally become the man or woman of God that you truly desire to be. Clarence is also committed to helping 10,000 people learn how to study the Bible and has just released his first Bible study course called Bible Study Basics. To learn more about his ministry please visit clarencehaynes.com. 

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