The Food for Thought Faithcast with Be Rob
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The Food for Thought Faithcast with Be Rob
Ep.20-Mothers Day-Praying Like a Mother: Lessons from Mark 7
Ever felt completely helpless while watching someone you love suffer? That desperate feeling is exactly where powerful intercession begins.
The Syrian-Phoenician mother in Mark 7 teaches us what happens when love meets desperation and transforms into unstoppable faith. With her daughter tormented by demons and no solutions in sight, this mother broke all cultural barriers to fall at Jesus' feet. What followed was a remarkable exchange that reveals the heart of effective prayer - persistence that refuses to be denied.
What strikes me most about this woman isn't just her boldness, but her humility. When Jesus initially rebuffs her with what sounds like a harsh comparison to dogs, she doesn't storm off offended. Instead, she brilliantly responds, "Even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Her faith was so robust that she believed just a crumb of Jesus' power would be enough to completely heal her daughter. And she was right.
This Mother's Day, I'm reflecting on the prayer warriors who've shaped my life - particularly my own mother, whose faithful intercession pulled my brother back from years of bad decisions and "worst luck on the planet." There's something uniquely powerful about a mother who hurts more for her child than the child hurts for themselves, who stays on her knees until God answers.
Whether you're a mother, father, or friend - who are you desperately interceding for today? Make yourself a prayer list. Consider fasting a meal for someone who needs a breakthrough. Remember that the God who healed a girl from miles away with just a word is the same God we pray to today. If you keep believing and persisting like that desperate mother, God will take care of the rest.
Hello and good day. It's the Food for Thought Faithcast and I'm your host, b-rob, and it's a special Mother's Day episode. Just want to say thank you to all the mothers out there and all the single fathers doing what mothers do. Want to give you a big, happy Mother's Day. Shout out to you. Today we've got a little message for you.
Speaker 1:Talking about the voice of a desperate intercessor Crying out before God on behalf of others, especially our children, is such a privilege because our God is a great God. We're going to be diving into the book of Mark today, chapter seven, and tell a little story for you, so let's go. But before we do that, I just want to say that, mothers, you are some of the best prayer warriors that I've had the privilege to meet in my 50 years of being on this planet. You guys are intercessors pouring out your hearts to God on behalf of your family. There's nothing quite like when a mother hurts for a child more than the child actually hurts for himself. The mother actually pleads with God for that child or that family member and stays on her knees until God answers, and stays on her knees until God answers. I can give you an example. My mother, diane Elrod has always prayed for me and my brothers and I know this for a fact. God has always intervened. I've always had my mother's conscience and that has gotten me out of some bad situations and kept me probably out of a lot of bad situations. Another example is my brother, benji, was a wild child growing up and they didn't really get along when he was young because she didn't really know how to handle him. He was something special but he was followed with the worst luck on the planet, did some bad things and had the worst luck of anybody that I know growing up, teenager, young adult, into heck, even into his 30s a little bit. But my mother prays so hard. And now my brother I'm so proud of him because he's married and the new wife and the kids man. They're a huge, happy family and it's a great thing and I know my mother prayed for him all these years and they have the best wonderful relationship right now. Praise God, praise God to that. So that's a testimony of mine of what I've witnessed from a praying mother. But what we're going to do today is focus on mothers. But fathers, you need to know that you need to pray this way as well. The goal today is to look at a desperate mother in Mark 7 and learn how to intercede for others. So let's do that right now. Let me pull the Bible out real quick. So in Mark 7, jesus actually honors a woman's faith. 7, verse 24 through 30,.
Speaker 1:Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyree. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it. Yet he could not keep his presence secret. In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, born of Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus, to drive the demon out of her daughter. Jesus said First, let the children eat all they want, he told her, for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs. She replied, lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs. Then Jesus told her For such a reply, you may go. The demon has left your daughter. Then Jesus told her For such a reply, you may go. The demon has left your daughter. So she went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone.
Speaker 1:You see, this woman in the story was a Gentile, a mother whose daughter was demon-possessed. She may have been so possessed that even travel was difficult. The woman bowed before Jesus. The woman's first response was to come to Jesus and fall at his feet. She came to Jesus who, in Mark's gospel, is the one prophesied by the prophets, the beloved son of the father, the teacher whose words make demons flee, the healer, the one and only master over nature, sickness and death. Did she come to the right one? I think so, and she fell at his feet. She honored him and she was humbly, or humble, but very passionately seeking his help.
Speaker 1:Now, you and I may have different situations, whatever right. We may not be dealing with a demon possession, but some of us might. You never know. But we do intercede for non-believing ones. We do pray for people who suffer from illness. We do pray for our children. Couples pray for other couples. I mean, can we fix them? Can we change them? No, do we try sometimes, yeah, wrong thing to do right.
Speaker 1:But we can do what the woman did come to Jesus and fall at his feet. Because when we do that we're showing respect and reverence to the King of Kings, we're expressing our awe over him, we admit our grief and our helplessness. We stop trying to fix things on our own. Let me say that one more time, because I need to hear it twice. We stop trying to fix things on our own and we simply praise and worship him. I mean, that's it. I mean, the mother's request wasn't all a basket of roses. You know what I'm saying? She wasn't bringing perfume. She was desperate and she was continually pleading with Jesus to free her daughter from this demon. I mean, don't you think we should do that sometimes? She came aggressive, but that's what intercessors do.
Speaker 1:When you're desperate for somebody else and you don't worry about the words you use or how many times you say them, your ego goes out the window. When you cry out for others, what matters is that you run to Jesus and cry out for him. That's what matters. That's what matters. Give you a good example. I have a friend.
Speaker 1:Him and his wife spent many years praying and fasting for one of their children who had wandered astray. God answered their prayers for him. They didn't stop. They continued the same pattern and started praying for all their children, including the ones that were already walking with the Lord, and to this day, that's their Friday routine. They do it every Friday they cry out to God and God is responding to them. It every Friday they cry out to God and God is responding to them. Is that a step you need to take on somebody else's behalf, you or me? Probably so, probably so, probably so. I mean cling to the hope that God gives right. Right, I mean.
Speaker 1:At first glance, jesus' response to the mother seemed pretty strange, and a lot of people can tell you. Scholars point out that the word Jesus uses for dog is a small. Dog might be a pet, not a wild dog deemed unclean. Jesus could have been speaking of his timing. He came to the Jews first and out of that, people, all nations, will be blessed, which is Genesis 12,. I believe Genesis 12, I believe, more specifically, jesus may have been testing the mother's faith. In turn, she doesn't take offense to his words. In fact, she actually engages and welcomes that. Basically, she's saying I just need the crumb.
Speaker 1:Her faith was so good she believed that even a crumb from Jesus was enough to break the demon's hold on her daughter. I mean, this mother was clinging to whatever hope Christ gave her. That's pretty strong, huh, it's pretty strong. So, like as you're praying for other people, we should plead for just a crumb, just a moment of hope. Hold on pain ends, hope acronym for hope. Hold on pain ends. Just holding on for that moment, that crumb, that crumb. God gives us Just a simple, a simple slice of his grace. Just enough to say I'm going to continue to pour my heart out to you. Just enough for you to say that and keep saying that. That's what this couple had for their kid in the family, that's what his mother had. They trust Jesus, they trust God, they cling to Jesus. They cling to Jesus, they cling to God.
Speaker 1:I mean, jesus didn't speak to the demon. In fact, he was nowhere near the daughter. He just simply declared her free. How much of a miracle is that. And she had so much faith in what he said to her, that crumb, she hurried home as excited as she could be, taking him at his word. She could have lived a mile away, but she ran home. She took Jesus at his word. She could have lived a mile away, but she ran home. She took Jesus at his word. And guess what? He didn't lie. He doesn't lie, he is the truth, the way, the light. And she was well. She came home and found her daughter. Well, just like the father of the prodigal son who ran quickly to meet his returning son in Luke, chapter 15,. Surely the mother ran in haste as well home because she knew and she trusted Jesus and what he said was true. And this God, the one who said those things, is the same one we turn to today. Same one, same one that changes lives. Same one that still works miracles out in hospitals and everywhere. The same one that hears the desperate cries of interceding mothers and fathers from everywhere. It's amazing to realize that, isn't it Amazing?
Speaker 1:So why don't you do yourself, make yourself a prayer list? Who do you need to pray for today? What person do you need to pray for today, and are you bothered by them? Enough to run to Christ like this hurting mother? It could be a family member. It could be a mother. It could be a family member. It could be a friend, it could be a spouse, it could be anything. Just think about it. Are you burdened enough that you would run to Christ like this hurting mother did over the demon? Possessedpossessed daughter? Another thing I want you to do is thank God for those who have interceded for you all these years, who have been praying for you. Make a commitment to pray regularly for somebody else. Heck, you might want to fast a meal for somebody else. If you keep doing that and keep believing, god will take care of the rest. I promise you, just like he did, just like Jesus did for the lady. I promise you, you.
