Is it okay to ask God for help?

Some of us feel bad asking for anything. Other people have it worse, we think. We should handle it ourselves. So we keep quiet, even with God.

There is a story about a man who would not keep quiet, and what Jesus did about it.

The man on the side of the road

Jesus was leaving the city of Jericho with a big crowd around him. A blind man named Bartimaeus, who begged for money by the road, was sitting there.

When he heard that Jesus was passing by, he started shouting for him. He called out for mercy, again and again.

People in the crowd told him to be quiet. He was being loud. He was being a bother.

So he shouted even louder.

Jesus stopped

The Gospel of Mark, one of the four accounts of Jesus's life, says that Jesus stood still. He told the people around him to call the man over. Then the same crowd that had told him to hush turned to him and said, "Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee."

Bartimaeus threw off his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.

And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.

Mark 10:51 · King James Version

The original Greek

καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν· Τί σοι θέλεις ποιήσω; ὁ δὲ τυφλὸς εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Ραββουνι, ἵνα ἀναβλέψω.

Found in Codex Vaticanus (about AD 325), Codex Sinaiticus (about AD 350).

Where the King James Version says "Lord," the Greek has Rabbouni, a warm word for "my teacher."

It is a strange question at first. Jesus could see the man was blind. But he wanted Bartimaeus to say it himself. To name the thing he needed.

And the man got his sight back, and followed Jesus down the road.

You are allowed to ask

The crowd thought this man was in the way. Jesus thought he was the reason to stop.

If you need something, you can say so. You can tell God plainly, the way Bartimaeus did. And you can ask people too. That is part of why we built an app called Mercy: so people can ask their neighbors for a meal, a ride, or a prayer, without shame. Needing help does not make you a bother. It makes you someone Jesus would stop walking for.