Powerful Short Prayers Part 3
Prayer of Canaanite mother
Mother who would not take no for an answer
So what do mothers do?
A. The pressures on moms today are greater than ever. It has got to be the toughest job in the world. Just think of what’s expected of her in our success-driven society: Have a successful career, keep the house spotless, raise perfect children, be a great cook, look like a model, be a charming hostess and conversationalist. Yet we are in a society that is doing everything it can to try to destroy that influence. Young girls are continually encouraged to find a career that is more meaningful. Motherhood is considered a second rate job only for those who do not have any ambition.
B. Mothers are the first to get up in the morning, and often the last to get to sleep due to restless children that won’t take bed time seriously. Moms are the ones who wake the children, feed the children, clothe the children, keep the children occupied, run the children every place they need to go, feed the children again, try to get a least one task accomplished in spite of the children, bathe the children, settle down the children and try to get the children to fall asleep, only to start the process again the next day.
C. Mothers are the ones who are charged with making their children happy, their husband happy, (if they work outside the home) bosses happy, and if there’s any time left then and only then can they be happy.
D. Mothers are the ones who are excellent first aid givers. When dad says “you’ll live” mom grabs the Band-Aid for non-existent scrape, and with a simple hug and kiss is always able to make the pain go away….
E. Mothers are the ones who put up with what seems like everyone telling them that they are not doing it right, that they should be doing something else, and that, even though their children are well-adjusted, content, and happy, if they don’t change today, their children will become juvenile hoodlums.
F. Mothers are the ones who, although they’ve completed high school and maybe some college, find their vocabulary slipping away with short phrases like, “Let mommy fix the boo-boo.” and find themselves repeating phrases constantly like “Don’t do that!” “I said no.” “Get back here.” “Get over here.” “Get out of there.” and the like…
G. We could do this for the whole sermon couldn’t we???
H. One very articulate lady made a comment when people would ask her about her occupation. Instead of saying “I am a stay at home mom” she would say, “I am socializing two Homo sapiens in the dominant values of the Judeo-Christian tradition so that they might be instruments for the transformation of the social order into the teleologically prescribed utopia inherent in the saving gospel message of Jesus Christ. What do you do?”
I. Moms are great aren’t they? They are the first special people in our lives we all relate to.
Interview mothers
A. Since it is Mother’s Day let’s take a few minutes to get to know some of our mothers here today. Have 3-4 moms up on stage.
B. Melissa Cruikshank, Elisa Blue, Michelle Brinkley, Mary Burcham
C. Why don’t you each introduce yourself, how many children do you have and how old they are.
D. What is one of the best things about being a mother?
E. What is a favorite memory or a favorite ‘mama drama’ that you would like to share?
F. What do you think a mother’s main responsibility is?
Introduction
A. We are doing a sermon series on “Powerful Short Prayers.” We have been looking at some of the powerful short prayers that are recorded in the Bible and there are many. Actually most of the prayers that are recorded in the Bible are short one or two minute prayers. Even the “Lord’s Prayer” only take about one minute to say. One thing we have been noticing and I believe the Bible clearly teaches is that short prayers are important. Short prayers move the heart of God. Short prayers are powerful. Short prayers are evidence of a real relationship with God. There is a time and a place for long dedicated periods of prayer but everyone is not called to be a prayer warrior. There are times when we need to set aside some special time to spend with God. But long devotional prayers are NOT MORE IMPORTANT or a sign of spiritual maturity. Daily short prayers are as important or more important. We can survive without devotional prayer. We may stunt our spiritual growth, but we CANNOT survive without daily thought prayers.
B. Today, I as we continue our sermon series on “Powerful Short Prayers” I thought it would be appropriate to look at a short prayer prayed by a mother. We are going to read the story of the Canaanite mother who kept asking Jesus to heal her daughter. This is a story about a mother who had a lot of ambition. She was on a mission. She would not take no for an answer. Her daughter was in great need and this mother was determined to get her help. We are not told her name. She is a nameless mother who had great faith.
C. Let’s turn to this story in Mark 7:24-30, then Matthew 15:21-28.
Tell the story why Jesus is there
A. Jesus departed to Tyre and Sidon to flee the wrath of the Pharisees. Even though Jesus was in Tyre and Sidon, He was not there on a mission trip. He was sent by the Father to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He did not want to disobey that commission and start a ministry with the Gentiles. That would come but not until He had fulfilled His mission to the Jews first. This was to fulfill prophecy of the OT that Israel would be the light to the world. The woman was not a Jew; she was of a nation that had been enemies with Jews for centuries.
B. Something about this mother that really stands out to me here. This was a praying mom. We don’t know about how long her prayers were but there seemed to be a lot of them and they appear to be short prayers. Who knows how different history would be today without our praying mothers! How many great men, leaders of nations, great pastors, and influential businessman have attributed their success to praying mothers, only God knows. Many a daughter and many a son has been saved from a life of drugs, alcohol, and despair by a praying mom.
C. This mother before us was a true praying mother. Her daughter was in trouble and she started praying. No matter what, she was going to pray until her daughter was healed. She was a M.O.M., mother on a mission.
D. This is an interesting prayer. When we hear teachings on prayer often we hear pastors say, “God answers prayer, sometimes He says yes and sometimes He says no.”
E. So what do you do when you are praying about something and God says no? You stop praying.
F. But that is not the case with this lady. She asked Jesus for a favor and He says, “No.” She does not take no for an acceptable answer! She keeps asking, almost harassing Him.
G. “No!” “Come on.” “No” “Come on” “No” “Come on” She just would not give up!
H. Let’s look at three things she had to overcome in order for her prayer to be answered.
Even though she may not have been a very good mother, but
A. When I read this story I can’t help but wonder, how did her daughter get “demon possessed.” Children are not born demon possessed. Something was wrong here in this family in order for this girl to get demon possessed. A person just does not get possessed by the devil as they go about their daily life. There had to be something going on in this family in order for the daughter to get possessed. She probably was not a very religious person.
B. Who was this girl hanging out with? Where was her mother? It seems to me that this mother had made some serious mistakes as a mother, but even though she was far from being the perfect mother.
C. Now this has something to say to all of us, especially to our mothers today. For some Mother’s Day, is somewhat depressing. They hear all this good stuff about motherhood and then they realize how far short they are falling. That may be true, but mom, you can still pray!!
D. This lady was not the perfect mom, but
She may not have gotten an immediate answer but
A. At first she did not get any answer. It was as though the “heavens were brass.” Jesus ignored her. He did not say anything. It did not stop this mother,
B. Sometimes it may take a while for us to get our prayers answered, pray anyway. We saw this last week as we looked at the short prayer of Nehemiah. It looks like he was praying for almost four months about the situation that was going on in Jerusalem. We don’t know when God is going to move. We don’t know why He waits, but like this mother, Nehemiah just kept praying anyway. We don’t know all that is going on when there is a delay. It is not as though God is not hearing our prayer. You can be sure He hears it but maybe there is something going on during that delay that God is working out.
C. Actually when this mother finally did get an answer it was not what she wanted to hear. She was told “NO.” Jesus said He was not called to the Gentiles; He was called to the nation of Israel. She did not give up,
D. She may be humiliated, so what,
E. You may get a discouraging word, so what pray anyway.
F. Praying is a supernatural event. It is a spiritual event and sometimes even though we don’t understand why, we must persist and continue praying, sometimes it may take days, sometimes weeks, sometimes months or years, but we cannot give up.
G. This mother was not about to give up. No answer today,
H. She was all alone in her request, no help from her husband, don’t even know if she had a husband, but
I. I am not sure she even knew how to pray correctly, but
J. She was discouraged in her prayers by the disciples but she
K. She was humiliated but
She may not have understood a lot of spiritual truth but
A. Jesus is telling her that she was not part of the plan right now. He was working with the nation of Israel and since she was not a Jew, the gospel was not really for her yet.
B. She didn’t understand all what Jesus was saying, she just fell at His feet. “Lord, help me!” She did not have good theology, “even the puppies eat the crumbs.”
C. She really should not have been asking for help from the Jewish Messiah, well she did not know that, so
D. She may not have been eligible to have her prayers answered,
E. She may not have had much to offer, she was not even a Jew, but no matter,
F. She may not have had “great faith” but
G. What is great faith anyway? Any faith is great. Faith is great. So if you have any faith then you have great faith. Use what you have. Don’t worry about what you don’t have, pray anyway.
H. She didn’t have the right connections,
I. Sometimes we feel inadequate, like we are not spiritual giants, how is God going to answer our prayers. Don’ worry about what you don’t understand, just
J. She may not have been well educated, but
K. She may have had some rough edges, but
L. You may not be the brightest person out there. You may not have your doctorate degree or your bachelor degree, but you can still pray anyway.
Conclusion
A. You know this thing about pressure for moms is really nothing new.
1. Eve was blamed for original sin and she had one son who killed his brother.
2. Hagar, Abraham’s handmaiden, had a son by him. She was sent away by Abraham with her boy, Ishmael and they almost died in the desert. She had to raise him as a single mother!
3. Jochebed was the mother of Moses. At that time the Egyptians were killing all male Hebrew babies to curb population. She placed Moses in a basket and let it loose on the river.
4. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was told there was no room for her in the Inn on the night she went into labor. Then she had to flee to Egypt to escape Herod’s wrath. Then when Jesus was becoming a teenager he showed up missing and was found a few days later in the big city of Jerusalem. Of course she had to see Jesus hanging on the cross, can’t even imagine how that felt!
5. The mother in our text had a wayward child. She had a daughter who was demon-possessed.
B. Mom there is one thing you can do. You can ALWAYS pray. It does not have to be a long devotional prayer. It can be short prayers prayed throughout the day. I want to encourage you to keep at it. Do you have a wayward child? Do you have a child in need? Pray, pray, pray.
C. Talk to God about your child. Pray for your children, never give up. Don’t worry about your short comings. You can more than make up for them with prayer.
D. This applies to all of us. Short prayer, thought prayer is the one thing we can do and if we do pray and stay with it, things will happen. Don’t give up, don’t get discouraged, keep praying and listening and watch what God does!
