"when A Mother Prayed"

“When A Mother Prayed”

Matthew 15:22-28

David P. Nolte

A six-year-old boy couldn’t see his mother so he panicked and began shouting frantically, “Joyce! Joyce!” His mother was just an aisle away and she chided him, “You shouldn’t call me ‘Joyce,’ you should call me ‘Mother,’ because I am your mother, you know.” “I know,” said the child, “but the store is full of mothers.”

And the world is full of mothers, too. But not all mothers are the same. Some are homemakers and some home wreckers. Some lead their children to the world and some lead them to the Lord. Some emphasize the temporal things and possessions and others emphasize eternal things, God things. Some mothers raise their children to fear strangers and others raise them to fear God. Some mothers teach their children to panic and others teach them to pray.

The Dynamic Duo sang,

“How sweet and happy seem,

Those days of which I dream

When memory recalls them now and then

And with that rapture sweet,

My weary heart would beat

If I could hear my Mother pray again.

If I could only hear my Mother pray again

If I could only hear her tender voice as then

How happy I would be,

T’would mean the world to me

If I could hear my Mother pray again.”

Today I want to talk with you about a mother who prayed. Before giving her an answer, Jesus tested her humility and faith. The text says, “A Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.’ But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, ‘Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.’ But He answered and said, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, ‘Lord, help me!’ And He answered and said, ‘It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.’ But she said, ‘Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus said to her, ‘O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed at once.” Matthew 15:22-28 (NASB).

Let me dispose of one issue first: Jesus was testing, proving and demonstrating her humility, her urgency and her faith. A proud, unhumbled heart would have flared up in self-defense. He was pleased by her bold humility and determined faith. He commended her and answered her request. But the lessons we learn from the woman’s prayer are the point for today.

I. HER PRAYER WAS PERSISTENT:

A. “His disciples came and implored Him, saying, ‘Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.’”

1. They implied, “She’s driving us bonkers! Get rid of her!”

2. What seemed to them a pestilent persistence was for her a passionate appeal.

B. Even when there were discouraging factors, she persisted.

1. The disciples wanted her to shut up and go away.

2. Jesus wanted to test, prove and increase the intensity of her by first saying nothing and then saying,

a. ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Still she persisted: “Lord, help me!”

b. Then He said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” And she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

C. Because she didn’t allow the disciples to discourage her, and she didn’t fly into an argument with Jesus’ statements, and she humbly accepted the lowly position of a dog under the table she passed His tests and Jesus said, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.”

1. This woman would not be derailed or put off in her quest to get to Jesus and to get Jesus to her child no matter how rude the disciples were or how disinterested Jesus seemed to be.

2. Sometimes it seems that way – no one cares – not friend, or family, or God.

3. Do not languish! Take a stand at the throne of God. Pray without ceasing! Pray when prayer is the hardest thing to do! Pray through!

4. Mothers, do not allow anything to keep you from tenacious persistence at the Throne of Grace and Mercy on behalf of your children.

a. Pray boldly for their salvation.

b. Pray persistently for those who have drifted away, that the Lord would send godly influences into their lives.

c. Pray for those who need to be liberated from addiction of any sort.