“…She begged Jesus
to drive the demon
out of her daughter.”
Mark 7:26
My Bible labels this passage, “The Faith of a Syrophoenician Woman,” but I think “The Persistent Prayer of a Mom” works just as well.
This Gentile woman comes to Jesus on behalf of her child. Verse 26 says she begged Jesus. When was the last time my prayers for my children could be described as begging? How about you?
Jesus replied with, essentially, a “to-the-Jew-first” answer. This woman’s tenacity and persistence are on display as she responds boldly to Jesus, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
She doesn’t argue with Jesus.
She doesn’t take on the Jew vs. Gentile debate.
She doesn’t even plead her own daughter’s worthiness to be healed.
She is humble in her boldness – content to be a Gentile “dog” as she begs for crumbs from the table. Asking only for the crumbs demonstrates both her humility and her faith in the power and the person of Jesus.
When have I prayed with a tenacious, persistent boldness on behalf of one of my children? When, in humility, have I asked for the crumbs from heaven’s table?
Forget justice. We must plead for mercy and beg for grace from our great, all-powerful, compassionate God.
Jesus healed this woman’s daughter. He acknowledged and rewarded her faith as He did so.
When we don’t press in and ask for the impossible, perhaps it suggests both a lack of faith and the presence of fear. That fear is a lack of trust, a lack of belief that the prayer could really and truly be answered. Do I harbor fear that what I ask is not in God’s plan? Have I held back because of fear that my prayer either won’t be answered or would be deemed a foolish request?
He has power over death. Nothing else is too great for Him!
James 4:2 says, “You do not have because you do not ask…”
Matthew 7:7-8 challenges, “Ask … seek … knock.”
Hebrews 4:16 encourages, “…come boldly to the throne of grace…”
Lord, show me where I need to pray with unrelenting, bold faith for each of my children. Give me insight into their needs. Give me the faith of the Syrophoenician woman. Teach me to pray with passionate persistence and confident faith.
(No teaching lecture link this week, as our Bible study group used the time to stuff shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. This was our Love Out Loud project for this semester. And check out this timing – several weeks ago, I submitted my writing assignment for the WMU blog and it just “happened” to be published the very week we were completing our Love Out Loud project at FBC, Siloam Springs! You can read the blog post at the WMU site here: http://www.wmu.com/index.php?q=blog/adults/team-blog/love-outloud }
