What if there were prayer screeners in Heaven – maybe a panel of judges that rate your prayers from zero to ten before they are sent on to the Throne Room? How would you do? No doubt you have heard some eloquent, beautifully spoken prayers at churches, ceremonies, and formal events. Would you give them a “10”? Would Heaven?
What if you were at the end of your rope, or sick, or depressed, utterly exhausted and could hardly put three words together, would God listen to you?
One day such a woman harassed Jesus. Matthew calls her a Canaanite woman; Mark calls her a Syrophoenician woman; I call her a mom – a mom with an incurably sick little daughter. She hears Jesus is in town and she has no time to compose a winning plea for his help. She rushes to the house where Jesus is trying to remain unseen and starts yelling for Jesus.
“Have mercy on me, Lord,” she cries, “My daughter is horribly demon-possesed.”
Falling on the floor at his feet she begs, “Lord, help me!”
But there seems to be a problem. This mom is a Gentile and Jesus was sent to the children of Israel. He tells her it wouldn’t be right to take the bread from the children and give it to the pets. The children have to eat first.
Whenever you are tempted to give up praying, remember this woman!
“But,” she says.
“But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
What a crumby prayer! She admits she will settle for whatever bread will fall to the floor. Well, after all she is already down on the floor.
But much more than that, she knows who is making the bread.
When she started yelling for Jesus she called him “Son of David.” That’s the title of the heir to the royal throne, the Messiah, God’s anointed. These are no ordinary crumbs.
“Woman,” Jesus told her, “your faith is great! You may go. The demon has left your daughter.”
What bread do you need today?
In the prayer Jesus taught, we pray, “give us today our daily bread.”
We don’t need eloquence to ask God for what we need – we need confidence in who He is.
By all means, when you can, compose beautiful songs and prayers of praise to God. But when you can’t find words, that’s okay.
“Lord, help me” is enough.
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Scripture reference: Matthew 15:22, Mark 7:25
Hope Walking 