The following questions are meant to help guide you through praying with a profound story in the Gospel: A man who has been blind from birth encounters a group of men...one of whom allows him to see for the first time. This story can be found in John 9:1-41. It may be beneficial to journal about them, or even sit before the Tabernacle with them!
Invite the Holy Spirit to guide your time in prayer. Read the passage a few times to become familiar with the story.
Close your eyes and imagine yourself as one of the characters in the story. What does the scene look like - Sound like? Feel like? What do you smell? Do you hear voices? What are you feeling - are you afraid of what you see/hear? Confused? Excited? Skeptical? What do you think Jesus is saying to you through your role in this story? ...
Think about the blind man being approached by the disciples - a group of men who are inquiring about him and his state of being. The man can only hear the group of men approaching, but he cannot see them. He feels a presence close to his face, then hears a gentle voice say, "I am the light of the world". What would it be like for a blind man to be told about light? Do you have things in your life that you long for, but have no way of knowing how to experience them?
Jesus tells the man to go and wash. What is the significance of something being restored and healed through the process of washing? What memories or events in your life have taken place that you can feel Jesus inviting you to, "Go wash"? To be healed?
People attempting to figure out the miraculous nature of this event begin to parade the blind man around, asking questions. They bring him to the Pharisees, who asked him how he was able to now see. Have you ever gone through something that you wanted to share with people that was difficult for them to believe?
What do you think it was like for the parents of the blind man to meet their son again after he was gifted his sight? What is your relationship with your parents like? Do you share in each others joy? Each others suffering? Would your family believe you if you told them the story of this man, Jesus, changing your life?
Later on in the story (John 9:35ish), Jesus hears that the people who were accompanying the man after his miracle have thrown him out. Jesus finds him again and says to him, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?". If someone came up to you today and asked you that same question, what would be your response? Would you be afraid of what they might think?
Jesus tells the man, "I came into the world...that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind." In what ways are you still blind? Where do you think Jesus is attempting to give you sight?