Blind Man Asks For Prayer
For the last couple of years, our pastors all around Thailand faithfully walk and pray throughout their villages every morning. They have been taught to assess their community's physical and spiritual needs and engage with people outside their homes.
One day I was visiting a village and walking with one of our pastors. He said a man in his village was dying and had been sick for a long time. He asked me if I would lay hands on him and ask God to heal his sickness.
We entered a small room with several gallon size water jugs full of urine. As we approached the man, there was no movement in the bed for what seemed like an eternity. I prayed to God that we weren't too late.
Our pastor began shaking the man, and he popped right up.
After the shock wore off, my first thought was - wow, this man is old.
The two men spoke together for a few minutes while I kept silent. It was strange because this old man never took his eyes off me when speaking. He didn't talk directly to me, yet he never looked away from me. It was very unnerving.
Finally, my pastor told the man I was there to pray to God and ask to heal him from sickness so he could live. Then I observed something I hadn't realized before - this man was blind. He couldn't see me even though he always looked right at me. I introduced myself and put one hand on his shoulder and the other hand in his hand.
I then asked him if he believed our God could heal him of his sickness.
To my surprise, he said he did believe.
To my second surprise, he said he didn't want God to heal him from his sickness as that was too much work for God to do for someone who would die soon. Instead, he asked me to ask God to give him his eyesight so he could live out his life being able to see. "Ask your God if he will help me to see."
The ending to this story is anticlimactic if you're expecting a plot twist. No physical miracle occurred during the time I was in the village. We prayed for the Lord to open his eyes and help him see, and as I drove away a few days later, he was still as physically blind as he was when I first entered his house.
However, it struck me that he desired to see, not extend, his life.
But maybe his eyes were indeed opened as he said he believed God could heal him. Perhaps the Lord answered Him before he even asked.
So often, I pray to the Lord to improve a situation in my life so that it is no longer as problematic. This old man unknowingly helped reshape my prayer life. Oh, that I would pray more often for the Lord to open up my eyes so I can see. (Eph 1)