Introduction
Many a time, prayers seem to delay or remain unanswered. This makes the children of God discouraged, wearied and they finally give up on God instead of persisting in their prayer life. In this edition of our Newsletter, the result of persistence in prayer is discussed.
Some Background Facts
“For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter” (Mar 7:25-26 KJV).
The following could be said of the woman who received an answer to her prayer for her child. The woman had heard of him, for it is written that “And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him. For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues. And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God” (Mar 3: 8, 10-11)
The woman mentioned above, coming from the same region of Tyre and Sidon, might have had enough knowledge about the Christ to help her receive faith to act upon. This tells that faith in Christ comes by hearing of the word of God (Rom 10:17). Believers need to familiarize themselves with the word of God. They ought to read and listen to the word of God as oftentimes as possible. Tyre and Sidon were traditionally pagan territories. Sidon was the home of Jezebel (1Kgs 16:31). This woman was described as a Canaanite (Mat 15:22), a people most morally despised of as Israel’s enemies in the Old Testament. She was a gentile or a foreigner, and possibly, a person of the descendant of Baal worshipper.
The Discourse
This woman was determined to receive from Jesus Christ but her cries were not initially answered. Jesus did not answer her a word” (Mat 15:23). God may seem to be silent but that does not mean that He is unconcerned. This woman knew it well that Jesus would not be silent forever so she continued to demand her request in prayer.
When she persisted with her request, the disciples entreated Jesus to send her away but Jesus´s answer was more discouraging than the silence. In His answer, Jesus said, “Bread is for children but not dogs. “Let the children first be filled. For it is not right to take the children’s loaves and to throw it to the dogs” (Mar 7:27). This implies that Jesus considered this woman a dog. Today, many people might have considered Jesus´s answer to the woman as unethical and insensitive. In spite of this, the woman did not give up but pushed further for the deliverance of her child.
Instead of answering back at Jesus for His response, this woman demonstrated an attitude of humility and faith in answering back at Jesus. She acknowledged that indeed she was a dog but “even the little dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ tables” (Mar 7:27-28). She accepted the fact that she was not a child but a dog, but calling Jesus the Son of David, she pleaded for mercy. This means that being a gentile or a Canaanite, her child deserved to die, but she asked Jesus not to grant her what she deserved, that is the death of her daughter. It was her honesty and faith demonstrated in her discourse with Jesus Christ that moved Him to say unto her “For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter (Mar 7:29). By the time this woman went home, her request had been granted (Mar 7:29). Believers should understand that nothing moves God to act in their favor except their faith and relentlessness.
Conclusion
God is ready to touch the lives of His people and bless them but they need to persist in prayer regardless of the distractions and discouragements. This woman was a gentile but she endured till she received her answer. Now, being children of God by adoption, we deserve more blessings than when we were unbelievers.
Prayer: Our Father in heaven, may your Holy Spirit continuously strengthen us and help us in our prayers to you since we do not always know how we ought to pray.