Real Life Selkirk
**September 20** Two Approaches to Prayer (Matthew 20:20-34)

  • Sermon

    Key passage

    Matthew 20:20–34 NIV
    Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. “What is it you want?” he asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.” “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.” When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. 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, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.” Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.

    Introduction

    Something we have highlighted over the last few weeks is that we really and truly need each other.
    We talked about how we need each other and the correction of those who love us to walk righteous lives before God
    We talked about how we were created for relationship, whether that be marriage, discipleship or just friendship
    We’ve talked about the 10 commandments and how the first few commands have to do with our relationship with God
    Love the Lord your God
    The second part of the 10 Commandments is about relationship with each other
    Love your neighbor as yourself
    We did a life group training a few weeks ago and Christian was giving a Biblical foundation for relationship
    A couple of the verses he talked about in that passage talk about the necessity for relationship:
    “It is not good for man to be alone”— God
    1 Corinthians 13— Love is patient, love is kind, it keeps no record of wrongs
    We talk about this for marriage, but this was a letter written to a church. Relationship
    Galatians 5— The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, etc.
    This is God giving us a supernatural ability to deal with each other.
    In fact, if God didn’t help me, I think I would be a pretty lousy guy who you would rather argue with and fight with than come to church and listen to. Thank you Jesus.
    We were not created to be independent of one another. We need each other.
    Here is where it get’s challenging. When we discover that we need each other, approaching each other with our need gets a little interesting.
    Guys, when you make a trip to Seattle to watch the Seahawks and you get a little turned around because they changed the roads and your points of reference repainted (anything but admit you are lost). You realize that you need ‘HELP’ , how do you feel on the inside (not something we do well) about stopping and admitting you need the help of another human being?
    Ladies, when you are only 5’1” and your husband is 6’6” and without thinking, he put the sugar free, calorie free, full flavor chocolate chips on the shelf that is eye level to him, but beyond your reach...theoretically...how easy is it to ask for “HELP” in getting the chocolate chips down? Not naming names, just a hypothetical situation. wink wink
    When I was thinking about this, I realized that I don’t approach any other person without having a reason to approach that person.
    If I want to call and visit with a friend, I call because I want to know how they are doing.
    If I want a pizza, I will call and my approach is different. I don’t really care how they are doing. I call because I want them to make me a pizza and we need to have some clarity on what I want and how much money they want in return.
    Sometimes, I communicate with people to resolve conflict or confusion.
    Again, my approach is not “how are you doing?” although that may be a part of that conversation
    I approach in a way to get the issues on the table.
    Now all of this is good theoretically. Now I want you to add a rough morning to the equation. Maybe add the fact that the coffee maker didn’t get set the night before and neither did my alarm clock.
    And now I need to have that conversation with you.
    It may be done with less patience, love, empathy and compassion.
    Now add to that equation the reality that I have a sinful nature that doesn’t always want what is best for the other person. It also doesn’t always want what is best for the situation. It always wants what is best for me and sometimes what is worst for you.
    And you have one too.
    Do you see how approaching other people can get a little sticky?
    Now, I want you to keep all of this in mind as we turn our eyes to our Scripture.
    Did you know that we are not only called to live lives that are dependent on one another, but also dependent on God?
    This is the picture of the church. We are all parts of the body. We need each other, but we also need the head, who is Jesus Christ.
    We must approach Jesus constantly in our lives. Our approach to Jesus in communication is called prayer.
    We may need Jesus’ help in a situation
    We may want to approach Jesus in gratitude
    We may want to spend time in the presence of Jesus
    We may fully disagree with what is happening in our lives and we need to talk to the manager...who is also Jesus.
    And all of the same dynamics are in play when we talk to others as when we talk to Jesus.
    A wise person once told me, “Who you are in relationship is who you are in relationship”
    You can’t be good in your relationship with others and poor in your relationship with God.
    You can’t be good in your relationship with God and not good in your relationship with others.
    It is the same you in every relationship you have.
    It is the same you that is in relationship with your spouse as it is that is in conflict with the person at the desk next to you at work.
    We like to put everything in its own context.
    But God wants to address our hearts as we approach each other and as we approach Him.
    In our passage today, we find two completely different approaches to Jesus.
    Matthew places two stories side by side because they answer one question: How do we approach God? The first story shows us how our hearts can approach Him wrongly — not rebelliously, but blindly. And Jesus meets that blindness with correction, not rejection. So let’s step into the first story and let Jesus reveal what we often cannot see

    Sermon

    Matthew 20:20–23 NIV
    Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. “What is it you want?” he asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.” “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”
    This is a crazy passage.
    In the verses following, it says the other disciples were indignant with James and John.
    Indignant is one way of saying that. “Momma’s boys”, “helicopter mom”, and a few other phrases would be rolling around in my mind as well.
    But in this, we see that James and John don’t have the courage to come to Jesus themselves. It appears their mother puts them up to this and she brings her two boys to Jesus with this request.
    As we read through this, we all shake our heads saying, “We know the approach is wrong, but how?”
    I want to bring to the surface four places that James, John and their mother got their approach with Jesus wrong.
    I think that her wrong approach to Jesus is something we all see in our own lives as well.
    First, I want to cross a 2,000 year old bridge to help us connect to this story.
    Who is this mother talking to? Jesus.
    This was Jesus in the flesh.
    Is Jesus still alive? Yes
    Do we talk to that same Jesus? Yes.
    What do we call talking to that Jesus?
    Prayer
    Even though this lady is just going up and talking to Jesus, we can correlate this interaction into our prayer lives.
    She is doing what we often do.
    In this text, there are four wrong approaches to prayer:
    Wrong Approaches to Prayer:
    1- Ambition

    Wrong Approaches to Prayer

    Ambition

    “She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.” (v.21)
    Here is what a heart of ambition looks like as we approach God in prayer.
    It is an approach to God that desires to elevate ourselves rather than surrender ourselves.
    This mother comes to Jesus and sees this as an opportunity to advance her kids in the Kingdom of Heaven.
    She knows that if her kids have the right and the left hand seats of Jesus, they would be the #1 & #2 disciples and basically next to the King in the Kingdom.
    This is the position that Joseph held in Egypt.
    Also, look at this from this woman’s perspective.
    Her husband Zebedee was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee. He was supported by his two sons James and John.
    They were in line to take up the family business and support Zebedee and his wife until they die.
    How do you think Zebedee and his wife have lived for the last three years since James and John left the fishing business?
    It’s easy to look at this as a power hungry woman. But she is also possibly stressed and looking for some stability for the future.
    Which is why I believe Jesus didn’t chastise her.
    Even from a place of struggle, she is looking for high status for her kids and also indirectly for herself.
    She is not asking how she can serve. She is asking for the status.
    This comes on the heels of the last two weeks of Jesus saying the first shall be last and the last first.
    But she feels she and her family have done their time. They’ve earned this position.
    She is looking at Jesus to validate her struggles by giving her status
    Going to God in prayer with a heart of ambition looks to seek greatness without the heart of servanthood.
    You might say, “Well, I’m sure glad I’m not that way.”
    Really?
    Here is what ambitious prayer looks like.
    Ambition in this world categorizes everything on a ladder.
    There are those who are higher and those who are lower. If you are lower on the ladder, you are a victim to those who are higher.
    If you are higher, then those lower than you are there to be used by you.
    It’s saying:
    “God, help me grow to be more like so & so. I’d really be working my way up the status of the church.”
    “God, help me learn the Greek language, so I can be a teacher. If I’m a teacher then everyone would listen to me as I tell people about you.”
    There is no hierarchy, there is no ladder.
    That was the point of grace that we talked about last week.
    If you started work at 6:00 a.m. or started work at 5:00 p.m. if you have grace, you are made equal through Jesus, not your effort.
    Desiring growth is good. Seeking a deeper relationship with Jesus is good.
    But when it comes to status, visibility, and honor, all of this is due to Jesus, not us.
    The second failure in prayer that we see in this passage is

    Self-Confidence

    Wrong Approaches to Prayer:
    1- Ambition
    2- Self-Confidence
    ““You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them.” (v.22)
    Another way of defining self-confidence in prayer is: “Approaching God as if we already understand the path.”
    Jesus says, “You don’t know what you are asking.”
    Do you think this lady thought she did know what she was asking?
    Of course she thought she knew.
    There is a verse that the Bible has that is incredibly eloquent.
    1 Corinthians 13:12–13 ESV
    For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
    Do you know what this verse says? The non-eloquent Jared translation?
    Some day, you will be smart. But right now you are pretty stupid. You don’t see, you don’t know, and in our context today, you don’t even know what to pray for.
    That’s why the passage ends with this:
    Faith— We need to trust Jesus, not our own stupidity
    Hope— We trust His version of the future not our own
    Love— Love the people around you.
    That is really the entire Christian life summed up in one verse.
    Going to Jesus as if we know and making complete requests with incomplete information can be boiled down to one word: pride
    The third failure in prayer in this text is:

    Assumption

    Wrong Approaches to Prayer:
    1- Ambition
    2- Self-Confidence
    3- Assumption
    Matthew 20:22 NIV
    “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered.
    Assumption and self-confidence are similar, but here is the difference in prayer.
    Self-Confidence is an overstated belief in myself
    Assumption is the belief that I know what God’s plans are
    Is it possible that in my pride I would go to God not fully knowing my own heart and also not fully knowing God’s heart?
    I don’t know what James and John thought they were signing up for, but I can guarantee you that they had no idea what God’s will and God’s heart were.
    I have heard dozens of sermons, teachers and even false teachers telling how to know God’s will.
    Some of the false teachers will say, “I know God’s will and I can show you how to already.
    These people craft a box for God. They say, “This is what God wants and this is how to get it.”
    This is what God will do and this is what God won’t do.
    It often ends with the listener needing to depend on that teacher for further revelation from God.
    I want you to know today that there is one God.
    He does a good job speaking on His own behalf.
    He gave us the Scriptures
    His Holy Spirit indwells us and empowers us to understand the Scriptures
    I have a role up here, but I have to be very careful to remain in submission to the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit
    God could replace me in an instant.
    He doesn’t need me.
    We need Him.
    Do you know how many shepherd boys killed Giants? One
    Do you know now many people God asked to sell all their possessions? One
    Do you know how many times God said to put a fleece out? One
    I don’t know what your circumstance is. But don’t assume God into a box.
    He’s God. His hand will be seen how He wants it to be seen.
    When we assume, it leads to disappointment, resentment and confusion. We find that we expect God to operate on a script and we write the script.
    We cannot be the god of God, therefore, we must not assume when we go into prayer.
    The fourth failure in prayer in this text is:

    Pride

    Wrong Approaches to Prayer:
    1- Ambition
    2- Self-Confidence
    3- Assumption
    4- Pride
    I made this fourth point because it is a summary, of the other three, but it also develops out many other wrong approaches to God in prayer.
    This entire text is about James, John and their mom’s desired outcome
    It was seeking honor and status for their family and security for the future.
    They requested nothing about Jesus, His mission, His Kingdom or the cross
    I read a quote this week that I believe fits this point:
    “The human heart is a perpetual factory of idols.”— John Calvin
    We talked about idols a couple of weeks ago. Idols aren’t just carved rocks that we bow down and worship.
    Idols are things that we place in our lives (often good things in the wrong place), that we learn to trust above God.
    Here it the thing about idols. We create our own idols.
    We are god makers. Every one of us. It is our sinful nature.
    However, we often don’t know that we are making idols
    We approach God with our plans and demand that he follow them
    We throw Bible verses at God to coerce him to answer our prayer.
    We pray for the temporary things of this life as if they are the eternal.
    All of this is putting the importance of our prayer into our own hands.
    We are crafting a God who will do what we want, how we want and when we want.
    But this is not God. This is the creation of a god in our heart.
    God wants us to see Him. Know Him. Learn His heart.
    When we approach Him in a heart of pride, it is often us praying to a god that we created, not the One True God.
    Now I want you to see this in this passage:
    Does Jesus pronounce woes upon Zebedee’s wife and the two boys? No.
    Jesus does not condemn them. he does not silence them, nor does He shame them. He doesn’t even walk away.
    However, Jesus reveals what they cannot see.
    They had to adjust their perspective to Jesus’ perspective. That is the only way they would adjust their hearts.
    The only wrong way to pray is not to pray.
    Jesus will meet pride with correction, not rejection
    Matthew 20:24–28 NIV
    When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
    Jesus doesn’t condemn them.
    Instead He corrects them and tells them that their heart cannot be prideful.
    We must be like Jesus looking to where we can serve Him and His Kingdom with Him as the authority.
    The first story reveals how pride distorts our approach to God. But Matthew immediately gives us a second story — one that shows the posture Jesus delights to answer. And as we move toward the conclusion, this story reminds us that Jesus is not measuring the eloquence of our prayers, but the humility of our hearts.

    Correct Approaches to Prayer

    Matthew 20:29–34 NIV
    As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. 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, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.” Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.
    Correct Approaches to Prayer:
    1- Recognition
    "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us” (v. 30)
    I want you to see the difference between the two blind men and the mother of James and John.
    James & John’s mother knelt before Jesus which is honoring, but went to Jesus asking for what she wanted.
    The two blind men called out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us.
    These two men recognized two very important truths: who they are and who Jesus is.
    They correctly identify Jesus.
    Lord— If He is Lord, then we are His doulos (slave or servant)
    Son of David— Prophesied King and Messiah
    Jesus was not just an ordinary man. He was sent by God as an authority
    They also correctly identified themselves.
    They were in need of Jesus’ mercy.
    Here is the interesting usage of this word.
    They felt they deserved the condition they were in.
    If it was unfair, they wouldn’t be calling out for mercy.
    In that culture, ailments like blindness were believed to come on a person because of their sin or the sin of their parents. But either way, it was justified by God.
    These two men had a recognition of sin and the consequence of sin in their lives.
    Were they blind because of sin? Only God knows.
    But they understand the the solution is Jesus, and only Jesus and within themselves is only sin and brokenness that is in desperate need of mercy.
    Do you see the difference in approach?
    One comes in pride, the other comes in recognition of Jesus and themselves.
    They call out to Jesus not as miracle worker or healer. They call out to Jesus as King.
    When we approach God in prayer, our approach is the same.
    I want you to look at the first line of the Lord’s prayer:
    Our Father in Heaven, hallowed (holy) is your name.
    It is a statement of recognition
    Walk through this in your life. In every relationship that you fail to recognize who you are and who the other person is, it will result in some strain.
    If you go home and see your wife as dish washer and floor vaccuumer, how do you think she will respond to you?
    If you go home and see your wife as blessing of God and co-heir in the blessings of God, will that change your approach?
    Will it change your wife’s response?
    When our approach to Jesus is just a list of prayer requests, what does that say about who we see that He is?
    It reminds me of when we preached through the Lord’s Prayer. We talked about how Jesus taught us, and how we often pray it backwards.
    Deliver me from evil— My life has so much trouble! Help!
    Forgive me of my sin— Help me forgive others
    I have these needs— Give me my daily bread
    Now that I’ve asked for all my needs— may your kingdom come your will be done
    It’s ironic that we pray this after we’ve asked God to help and bless our kingdom and our wishes
    You are holy, and you are good.
    We must recognize the God we are praying to when we pray.
    Next
    Correct Approaches to Prayer:
    1- Recognition
    2- Desperation
    “They shouted...They shouted all the more...” (v. 30-31)
    They recognized Jesus, they knew their own posture. And they knew they needed Jesus above all else.
    Here is the thing that I see in Jesus and I also see in our world.
    There are those who try to intellectually come to Jesus. They come to my office and probe with all of these intellectual questions trying to determine if following Jesus is a good idea
    This isn’t entirely wrong, but in trying to prove or articulate Himself, Jesus often doesn’t show up to the conversation.
    He doesn’t feel the need to prove Himself to you.
    He wants us to understand our need for Him.
    Think about every person that approached Jesus.
    Those who were desperate and needed Him, always caught His attention.
    Those who approached with no desperation and an attempt to get something or ask Jesus to prove something, were often met with a challenge to their heart.
    James and John’s mother didn’t approach with desperation. She approached with pride
    These men approached with Jesus as the only hope of their lives.
    This is the hardest point to preach out of this sermon.
    I can say that our approach to God needs to be one of desperation. But you can’t just go home and become desperate.
    Desperation is an awakening of the heart that I believe can come about by the work of the Holy Spirit within us.
    We can sit on the outside of Scripture and say, “Jesus is the only way.”
    But when we look in our circumstances and realize that in this moment, Jesus is the only hope for my relationships. The only hope for my future. The only hope for this work day to end well. The only hope for my kids.
    There aren’t alternative paths. Jesus is the only way and we must understand that not only in our minds.
    Satan wants us to play this out as an intellectual exercise. The more this digests in our mind, the more effective his deception becomes.
    We must allow this truth and reality to penetrate our hearts.
    Jesus is the only hope for our friends, our family, our jobs, our church, our community.
    He is all, and until we see this world through His eyes, we will never understand the desperation He calls us to.
    Correct Approaches to Prayer:
    1- Recognition
    2- Desperation
    3- Specificity
    Matthew 20:32–33 NIV
    Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”
    I normally don’t use words that have more than three syllables, but here we are.
    Jesus asked these men for what they wanted from Him
    They had approached Him with an honest recognition. They knew Jesus was the only hope and they were desperate.
    Now, Jesus approaches them with the question, “What do you want.”
    They didn’t demand. Jesus demanded, they responded.
    So much different than our prayer life!
    Of course Jesus looked at them and knew they were blind.
    This was not a surprise to Jesus at all. But they needed to say it. Specifically.
    As we approach God in prayer, we must be specific in what we ask.
    I’ve never been goose hunting, but I’ve heard that there is a principle in hunting. When a bunch of geese are flying in, don’t just shoot at the flock of geese hoping to hit something.
    Pick a specific goose and make a good shot. You’ll be much more successful in your hunt.
    I was reading a book recently that makes this point:
    “Our prayers must not be a vague appeal to His mercy, an indefinite cry for blessing, but the distinct expression of definite need. Not that His loving heart does not understand our cry or is not ready to hear. But He desires it for our own sakes.”
    “Such definite prayer teaches us to know our own needs better. It demands time and thought and self-scrutiny to find out what really is our greatest need.”
    “It searches us and puts us to the test as to whether our desires are honest and real, such as we are ready to persevere in. It leads us to judge whether our desires are according to God’s Word”— Andrew Murray
    How much of our prayer is vague and a general shooting at the needs of the world?
    Some cry for mercy, but do not take the time to know what mercy they need and what it must do for them.
    Others ask to be delivered from sin, but do not begin by bringing any sin by name from which they need to be delivered.
    Many pray for God’s blessing or an outpouring of God’s Spirit on themselves, others or on the world and never even know what they are asking, why they are asking, and how God may equip, call or empower them to be the answer to that prayer and bless those you presume to pray for.
    In prayer, we must take the time and examine our hearts. Be specific as we approach the King in prayer.
    We will then see His calling of specific obedience in our lives and the clear work of His hand in our world.
    We may find in our journey to be specific in prayer that we discover God asking us to be His hands and feet in the situation.
    When we pray, we must do so with the humility and submission to respond to Him when He speaks
    Prayer is always God’s opportunity to invite us into His solution or answer to that prayer in our situations.
    So when you pray for a friend.
    You might find that by asking God for help, God has been inviting you to be His hands and feet.
    Are you willing to act when you pray and God invites you in.
    Correct Approaches to Prayer:
    1- Recognition
    2- Desperation
    3- Specificity
    4- Trust
    Matthew 20:34 NIV
    Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.
    Our approach to God is built on His heart. He is a God who is slow to anger and abounding in love.
    We are His children and must approach Him with the honor of a child, but the trust that our Father wants what is best in our lives.
    Do we believe God is who He says He is? Is He good?
    Then trust His goodness
    Is He loving?
    The trust that He desires to hear your heat?
    Is He all wise
    Then trust that His outcome is better than our own.
    When we pray, we must trust God
    I have one more quote for you as I move to the conclusion of our sermon:
    “In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”— John Bunyan
    Four humble approaches to God from the blind men’s story:
    — seeing Jesus rightly (“Son of David”).Recognition
    — crying out from need, not strength.Desperation
    — naming our need honestly (“Lord, we want our sight”).Specificity
    — believing Jesus responds with compassion.Trust
    These four postures stand in beautiful contrast to the four prideful approaches in the first story.
    “We all come to Jesus with requests. We all pray. But the way we approach Him shapes the way we experience Him. Matthew gives us two stories — one that reveals how pride quietly slips into our prayers, and one that shows how humility opens the door to compassion. The first story is a mirror; the second is an invitation. And together, they lead us to one simple truth as we conclude: Jesus doesn’t require perfect prayers — He responds to humble hearts.”

    Conclusion

    Church, Matthew gives us two stories that sit side by side like a mirror and a window. The first story is a mirror—it shows us how easily pride slips into our prayers. Not loud pride. Not rebellious pride. Just the quiet, everyday pride that assumes, that reaches, that tries to steer God instead of surrender to Him.
    And Jesus doesn’t reject it. He doesn’t shame it. He doesn’t silence it. He simply reveals it.
    The second story is a window—it shows us the posture Jesus delights to answer. A posture of recognition, desperation, specificity, and trust. A posture that sees Jesus rightly, names our need honestly, and believes He responds with compassion.
    And here’s the truth that ties both stories together:
    Jesus doesn’t require perfect prayers.He responds to humble hearts.
    Every one of us comes to Jesus with something in our hands. A need. A fear. A hope. A request. A question. A wound. A longing.
    And the way we approach Him shapes the way we experience Him.
    If we come with ambition, He gently redirects us. If we come with self-confidence, He reminds us we don’t see clearly yet. If we come with assumption, He invites us to trust His wisdom instead of our script. If we come with self-interest, He exposes the idols we didn’t know we were carrying.
    But if we come like the blind men— recognizing who He is, desperate for His mercy, specific in our need, trusting His compassion— He stops. He listens. He touches. He heals. He restores.
    So as we close today, I want to invite you to ask one simple question:
    How am I approaching God?
    Not “Do I pray enough?” Not “Are my prayers eloquent?” Not “Do I know the right words?”
    But How am I approaching Him?
    Because the good news of this passage is that Jesus meets every approach— the prideful and the humble— with the same heart:
    Correction for the proud.Compassion for the humble.And grace for all who call on His name.
    So come to Him. Come honestly. Come humbly. Come specifically. Come trusting His goodness.
    Because the only wrong way to pray is not to pray.
    And the risen Jesus—the same Jesus who heard James and John’s mother, and the same Jesus who stopped for two blind men— is the same Jesus who hears you today.

      • Matthew 20:20–34ESV

      • Matthew 20:20–23ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 13:12–13ESV

      • Matthew 20:22ESV

      • Matthew 20:24–28ESV

      • Matthew 20:29–34ESV

      • Matthew 20:32–33ESV

      • Matthew 20:34ESV

Real Life Selkirk
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