And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. (Mark 7:32)

My attention was drawn to the last phrase of the passage above – they beseech Him to put His hand upon him. As I think about it, this request is a strange one. It believe that it is understandable, but there is a lesson for us in this phrase.

First of all, it is understandable in that Jesus’ fame was spreading all around the region.  There were stories about the great healing He brought to so many people with a mere touch.  So, it is understandable that this man’s friends would request that Jesus put His hand upon their friend.

At the same time, it is wrong in that they were trying to dictate how Jesus should heal their friend.  What they really wanted was for their friend to be healed, and they should have been asking Jesus to heal him.  This could well be the reason why Jesus healed this man in a different way.

As for the lesson, how often we are like this man’s friends?  We have a request to make of God, but we insist on telling Him how He should answer it. It would do us well to consider the real need when praying for something, and request the real need, and then see how God works.