Spiritual Prescription PERSISTENCE IN PRAYER
And behold, a woman of Canaan...cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord. Matt. 15:22.
Jesus apparently didn't even notice the woman who was following Him. He did not respond to her cries, and finally the disciples asked Him to get rid of her. He told her that His help wasn't for her, and when she persisted in her request, He made reference to dogs. But she continued to plead, and her request was granted.
You see a widow, penniless, ragged, and alone. She comes repeatedly before a judge who could relieve her distress in a moment if he would choose to do so. But he refuses. She comes before him again and again to urge her request. Finally, he grants her the help she needs.
Why are these stories in the Scriptures? We are told that "perseverance in prayer has been made a condition of receiving" (Steps to Christ, p. 97), but why? Is God unwilling to come to our rescue? Does He have to be talked into helping us?
In both of these examples, God is revealed by contrast, not by comparison. The Syrophoenician woman was treated by Jesus in the way that the Jews would have treated her. He desired to awaken sympathy for her in the hearts of His disciples, although at the time the disciples were much more in sympathy with the feelings of the Jews for "outsiders," and almost missed the point. But the woman, who saw the compassion of Jesus that He could not hide, continued to press her petitions until she was rewarded.
The unjust judge is also a reverse example of how God deals with us. God is more willing to give good gifts to us than we are to give them to our own children. He points to the unjust judge and shows that if even an unjust man can be won over by persistence, how much more surely will He, who wants to help us from the start, respond to our cries.
How do we obtain this persistence? "It was Christ Himself who put into that mother's heart the persistence which would not be repulsed. It was Christ who gave the pleading widow courage and determination before the judge....And the confidence which He Himself had implanted, He did not fail to reward."--Christ Object Lessons, p. 175.
And behold, a woman of Canaan...cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord. Matt. 15:22.
Jesus apparently didn't even notice the woman who was following Him. He did not respond to her cries, and finally the disciples asked Him to get rid of her. He told her that His help wasn't for her, and when she persisted in her request, He made reference to dogs. But she continued to plead, and her request was granted.
You see a widow, penniless, ragged, and alone. She comes repeatedly before a judge who could relieve her distress in a moment if he would choose to do so. But he refuses. She comes before him again and again to urge her request. Finally, he grants her the help she needs.
Why are these stories in the Scriptures? We are told that "perseverance in prayer has been made a condition of receiving" (Steps to Christ, p. 97), but why? Is God unwilling to come to our rescue? Does He have to be talked into helping us?
In both of these examples, God is revealed by contrast, not by comparison. The Syrophoenician woman was treated by Jesus in the way that the Jews would have treated her. He desired to awaken sympathy for her in the hearts of His disciples, although at the time the disciples were much more in sympathy with the feelings of the Jews for "outsiders," and almost missed the point. But the woman, who saw the compassion of Jesus that He could not hide, continued to press her petitions until she was rewarded.
The unjust judge is also a reverse example of how God deals with us. God is more willing to give good gifts to us than we are to give them to our own children. He points to the unjust judge and shows that if even an unjust man can be won over by persistence, how much more surely will He, who wants to help us from the start, respond to our cries.
How do we obtain this persistence? "It was Christ Himself who put into that mother's heart the persistence which would not be repulsed. It was Christ who gave the pleading widow courage and determination before the judge....And the confidence which He Himself had implanted, He did not fail to reward."--Christ Object Lessons, p. 175.
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