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.  Matthew 20:29-32. (NIV)

Matthew 20 tells the story of Jesus healing two blind men.  Although the crowd rebuked them for shouting out and asking for mercy, Jesus approached them and asked specifically what they wanted Him to do for them.  He wanted them to verbalize their faith as they expressed the longing in their souls to be whole.  “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”  Matthew 30:33 (NIV).  They didn’t just ask for grace to bear their disability or help from family and friends.  They weren’t seeking financial support.  They wanted to see!  Verse 34 tells us that Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes.  Immediately they received their sight and followed him.

My daughter shared with me recently that she wants to believe for my grandson’s healing.  Gage was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder almost eight years ago.  Of course we have asked God for his healing over the years as we researched and provided him with every type of treatment available – from special supplements, various therapies, hyperbaric chamber sessions, a special diet, to name a few.  Although my grandson has done well and has progressed in a positive way over the years, my daughter’s heart longs for his complete wholeness.  Although our family has come to terms with the reality of autism and has fully accepted and loved our little guy, we know what our God is capable of.  As the blind men knew in their hearts that this “Son of David” passing by them that day could make them fully whole, we believe the same for Gage.

Often Christians are afraid to ask for big things from God.  But why not?  He’s our big God, our God who can do anything.  My daughter’s faith has been stirred as she recently watched a testimonial of a family whose two boys with autism received healing.  These boys were both retested and their diagnosis of autism was completely removed.  They both function as neurotypical persons today.  In the testimony, the mother, in despair asked God why He had allowed her sons to have autism.  “How could He allow them to carry this burden when she loved them so much that she would die for her boys.”  At that moment she felt Jesus speak to her, “I already did.”  He loved them – and all of us so much that He died for us.  She knew those thoughts weren’t her own and that Jesus indeed was speaking to her heart.  She knew then that her sons were going to be healed.

So why are we so intimidated to believe God for big things?  Why do we feel, even in our own Christian circles, that we will be perceived as fanatical, that others will just want us to “hush” as the crowd wanted the blind men to do?  Sometimes pride gets in the way and people worry about how they will look if they ask for healing and don’t receive it.  Don’t let your pride keep you from believing God for the desires of your heart.  Others may say, “Well maybe it isn’t God’s will to heal him.”  But I don’t see anywhere in my Bible where I am told to second guess God and not ask or have faith.  That would only, at best, water down our faith.  In Mark 5:34 (NASB) Jesus said to the woman who pressed into Him and touched the hem of His garment, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”

When my daughter shared her heart with me, I told her, “Well, you know medicine has nothing to offer when it comes to the healing of autism.  We’re all aware that there is not a treatment that brings wholeness.  So I’m going to stand with you on this.  I’m believing God with you for Gage’s healing.  Why not?”

“Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”  Matthew 18:19-20 (KJV)