Participants: Jason Bradley (Host), Nadine Joseph-Collins PhD
Series Code: TMP
Program Code: TMP000010A
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00:33 Hello and welcome to The Missing Peace.
00:35 My name is Jason Bradley 00:36 and our primary host for this program is 00:38 Dr. Nadine Joseph-Collins. 00:40 Dr. Nadine hails from the island of Saint Lucia. 00:43 She's passionate about prayer 00:45 and has been empowering the prayer lives 00:47 of people around the world. 00:48 Dr. Nadine is an Author, Speaker and an affiliate 00:52 of Sanare Life Ministries 00:54 where she works alongside her husband, Nyse Collins. 00:57 Dr. Nadine is going to make our prayer lives go, "Wow!" 01:00 But before she does that, let's have a word of prayer. 01:03 "Dear Heavenly Father, 01:05 we ask for your presence, 01:07 we ask for the presence of the Holy Spirit 01:09 to guide our conversation 01:12 so that you may receive all the honor and the glory. 01:16 We ask that you would please strengthen our prayer lives 01:20 and the prayer lives of our Viewers. 01:21 In Jesus' name we pray, amen. " 01:23 "Amen... amen. " 01:24 So, we've been covering exciting topics... 01:27 what are we going to be talking about today? 01:31 Today, we're going to be talking about 01:33 persistence in praying or Persistent Praying... 01:35 Okay. 01:37 Because the Webster's Dictionary... 01:39 I use dictionaries online a lot 01:41 you know, long ago we would have 01:43 all of these dictionaries there, 01:45 now I just use the ones on Google and stuff 01:47 so the Merriam Webster's Dictionary online 01:50 defines "persistence" as a quality that allows someone 01:53 to continue doing something or trying to do something 01:57 even though it is difficult or opposed by other people. 02:00 Now, interestingly there's a definition there 02:04 for students as well... as it relates to students... 02:07 that definition is that: 02:09 it's the act or fact 02:10 of stubbornly continuing to do something. 02:13 Wait, say that one again. 02:17 The act or fact of stubbornly continuing to do something. 02:22 Okay. 02:23 So they refer to that as "persistence" 02:25 so you do the same thing over and over and over again. 02:28 Hmmm... hmmm... hmmm... hmmm. 02:29 So, that's really what persistence is about. 02:32 It requires patience though 02:34 because just imagine doing the same thing 02:36 over and over and over again. 02:37 Long ago, you'd hear people say, "If... " 02:39 I still hear it sometimes... 02:41 if you do something the same way all the time 02:43 and you get the same results, you shouldn't do it, 02:45 however, when we look at that explanation, 02:49 that's really practice... 02:50 Doing something over and over and over again. 02:54 I think, the other thing you were just saying a minute ago 02:58 is like the definition of insanity 03:00 where you do the same thing over and over and over again 03:04 and expect different results. 03:05 Yes... and that's what people actually say 03:07 but when we look at it on a deep level, 03:09 it's really, really practicing 03:11 because many people who are now popular for certain inventions 03:15 would have done the same thing 03:17 over and over and over and over again... 03:19 failing that it... over and over and over again 03:21 until they got the result that they were looking for 03:24 experiments... and so on... scientists and so on 03:27 now, in our prayer life, we're talking about being persistent, 03:29 being stubborn about something... 03:32 talking about praying about something 03:35 that other people are even opposed to 03:37 because they don't see it the way you see it. 03:39 Hmmm... 03:41 You see, that's what the definition is saying, 03:42 it's trying to do something even though it's difficult 03:45 or opposed by other people 03:48 so, we're looking at our prayer life 03:51 and that act of stubborn praying 03:52 so it requires patience and relentless pursuit. 03:55 Yes. 03:56 A lot of times, sometimes, when a guy is dating a girl 03:59 they'd be like... "Oh, he's so persistent... " 04:01 because sometimes he would come... 04:03 and it doesn't matter how many times you say 04:04 you're not interested, he still keeps coming... 04:06 Hmmm... hmmm... 04:07 You know... and so we look at it as persistence 04:09 and the definition is saying that 04:10 and to be persistent, you have to have a steadfast mind, 04:13 you must be well-grounded 04:15 because for you to be able to keep getting rejected 04:18 about something and going back... 04:20 like going after that girl to date her every time 04:22 and getting rejection and sometimes you hear the stories 04:25 eventually they got married... 04:27 so we see the persistence paying off. 04:29 Yes. 04:31 And so we see persistence here requiring that kind of patience 04:34 and I'm not a parent and neither are you 04:36 but we've heard stories of parents talking about their kids 04:41 they come and ask for something 04:44 and probably the parent is saying, "No" 04:46 and that child will ask and ask and ask 04:48 until... either they embarrass their parents 04:51 if they're in public 04:52 or maybe they throw a temper tantrum 04:54 or something happens and the parent is like, 04:56 "You know what? I'm tired... here have it. " 04:58 Hmmm... hmmm... 05:00 that also is persistence 05:01 though they're testing the parents though 05:03 but it's persistence 05:04 because they're going after that thing stubbornly 05:07 even though the parent is opposing giving it to them 05:10 at the time... and so, I remember as a kid 05:13 asking my dad for something 05:16 but every other time we have a conversation on the phone 05:19 guess what I'd be doing? 05:20 What? 05:22 Reminding him of the thing that I asked for before 05:23 you know, that kind of a thing 05:25 and to the extent that sometimes 05:27 like, when I would be in the same place with him, 05:29 if I would have, let's say, 05:30 asked him to go somewhere with my friends, 05:31 I would not go back and ask again... 05:34 I used to just walk around him 05:35 so every time I walk around him a few times... 05:38 he'd be like, "Okay, go ahead Anna... " 05:40 You know, that kind of a thing, 05:41 I'm sure you have stories of you asking your parents 05:43 for something. 05:44 Oh yeah... I was taking piano lessons... 05:46 my mom had me in piano lessons 05:48 and they were just teaching us like, 05:49 "Row, row, row your boat... " 05:51 I wanted to learn some real songs 05:52 so I asked her to let me quit, 05:54 she would not let me quit so I was persistent 05:57 in trying to get her to let me quit 06:00 and finally, after I wore her down... 06:02 after so many times of saying, 06:04 "Mom, I hate this, let me quit, let me quit, let me quit... " 06:07 she finally let me quit 06:09 and she said, "You're going to regret this when you get older" 06:12 and she was right, because I regret quitting piano lessons. 06:14 Hmmm... hmmm... 06:16 Well, it's not too late... you're here... 06:18 they say, "Where there's life there's hope. " 06:19 That's true. 06:20 And you still have youth on your side so that's okay. 06:22 You know, but persistence in prayer 06:24 can be something that can draw you out 06:27 or it could even be embarrassing 06:28 because if we look at the definition of persistence 06:31 where you know you're doing something relentlessly, 06:34 you're doing something stubbornly... 06:35 other people are opposed to it because probably they're saying, 06:37 "You're praying about that thing so long... 06:39 and nothing is happening... " 06:41 you remember, when Noah was preparing for 06:47 the flood... when he was building the ark 06:48 and he looked like a fool to everybody 06:50 they'd be like, "What are you doing?" 06:52 And he keeps saying, 06:53 "There's going to be rain, there's going to be rain... " 06:55 and he was sure about it... 06:56 he was persistent about that belief that he had 06:58 but he was made a fool of because people thought, 07:00 "This was a mad man... " 07:02 and so, sometimes in our prayer lives, 07:03 there are things that we are praying about 07:05 because God has placed it in our heart 07:07 but when people look at us in the waiting process, 07:09 they think that we are fools, 07:11 you see. 07:12 Yeah, that's why we also don't need to disclose 07:15 our dreams... our visions or anything like that to people 07:18 because sometimes, they have their own... 07:21 because they can't see themselves doing it, 07:24 they don't want to see you doing it 07:26 or they want to crush your dream, 07:28 that's why we take it to God... 07:29 God can open a door that no man can close. 07:32 And the thing is, maybe we also need to surround ourselves 07:36 with people who believe like us 07:37 because sometimes, when you have these people around 07:40 who believe with you and pray with you, 07:42 your dream can be realized 07:44 so we just need to be mindful 07:45 of the people that we have in our lives... 07:47 the people that we share our dreams with 07:49 you know, that kind of a thing 07:50 and one stories that really highlights this 07:53 kind of persistent situation when it comes our prayer life 07:57 is in Luke 11. 07:59 And so we pull that there where we see the model of prayer 08:03 or how prayer was modeled from a parable that Jesus told 08:07 when He was speaking to His disciples 08:09 so, He really wanted them to get that mental picture 08:13 and when I read this story 08:14 I begin to visualize and imagine in my mind... 08:17 I begin to make scripts and movies in my mind 08:20 just seeing the picture of what Jesus is describing here. 08:23 He says... in the middle of the night... 08:25 a friend goes and knocks on the door of another friend... 08:29 Hmmm... Hmmm... 08:30 He didn't just knock on the door, 08:32 let's just use our imaginations now, 08:34 according to the Pastor... the sanctified imagination... 08:37 so he went banging on the door. 08:38 Jason: Hmmm... hmmm... 08:40 Nadine: You like your sleep. 08:41 Jason: Absolutely. 08:42 Nadine: So you could imaging somebody coming... 08:44 knocking on your door at midnight 08:46 or any time after that 08:47 and you didn't expect them, how would you feel? 08:51 I'd be frustrated... depending on the situation... 08:54 Depending on the situation... 08:55 so, I remember a time while canvassing in Canada 08:59 we would go and knock on people's doors 09:01 and, of course, sometimes during the summer, 09:04 the sun sets very late, after 9... almost 10... 09:06 and we would go and knock on these people's doors 09:08 and sometimes, these parents would come to the door 09:11 and let us know, "Hey, my kids are sleeping 09:13 and you just rang the bell... " 09:16 and just bang that door in your face, 09:18 because we were knocking on their doors 09:20 at a time that wasn't convenient for them... 09:22 if we had gone earlier in the day 09:23 they would have been different, 09:25 now, here is this friend going to his friend's house 09:28 after midnight... thereabout... knocking on the door 09:32 not because he was in need 09:34 but because a visitor came to his house that night unexpected 09:39 and he had no food to give the visitor 09:41 and the visitor was hungry 09:42 so, this friend continues to knock 09:45 and I could almost imagine being at the bottom... 09:48 they may be knocking... 09:49 thinking of the houses that were built 09:51 long ago, and I remember the ones in Greece where they have 09:54 they're really on the top there and you can see... 09:56 and this guy kept knocking and knocking 09:59 and his friend is looking down eventually, maybe... 10:02 after the wife maybe says, "You know, somebody's there 10:05 and it sounds like our neighbor... " 10:07 we don't know what the relationship was like 10:09 with the wife and the neighbor but we know that 10:12 for him to have gone to knock on that man's door, 10:15 he will... at that hour of the night 10:17 and to ask for food for a stranger, 10:19 it means that they may have been pretty good friends 10:21 or something, you know, 10:22 and he probably knew that the person's pantry had food 10:25 maybe he would have been blessed from the food before, who knows, 10:29 but the thing is, he went knocking 10:31 and knocking and knocking and the host now... 10:33 which is the friend who goes to knock... 10:35 he didn't think, "Hey, you know what? 10:38 I know you're really hungry, I don't have any food... 10:41 but can we just wait for the morning, 10:43 I'll try to get you something in the morning, 10:45 he bypassed all sorts of rationale 10:49 in his attempt to want to please his guest so much 10:52 and give them food... that he went did that to his friend. 10:55 Now the friend may have been in bed sleeping... 10:57 the wife... you could imagine... 10:59 maybe the wife had a baby a few months ago, 11:00 "Hey, my wife is sleeping... the baby is sleeping... " 11:03 and so on... but he kept on knocking 11:05 until the friend finally got frustrated enough 11:07 to open that door and give him some food. 11:10 Now, the thing about it is that 11:12 this guy kept knocking on somebody's door for food... 11:15 not for himself... but for somebody else... 11:18 and so, when we're thinking about our prayer life, 11:21 we are thinking about the whole issue of intercession 11:25 and so on... 11:26 but one of the things I could imagine happening there 11:29 is the friend saying to him, 11:30 "Hey, can't you wait for tomorrow morning?" 11:32 I mean, my door is already locked... 11:34 I can't open it now... " and so on 11:36 and he may be saying, "No, no, no... 11:38 somebody is there... they need to eat now. " 11:40 But he is doing all of that on behalf of somebody else, 11:45 you know, the friend may have explained 11:47 all kinds of things to him 11:48 but the problem highlights 11:50 what Christ was trying to teach the disciples... 11:54 is that there is beauty and there is a reward 11:58 when we are persistent in praying 12:00 because he gave all that story 12:02 and, of course, we can create the image in our mind 12:05 but the whole point was, 12:06 "Hey, you need to be persistent in praying... " 12:09 he said... even if that friend did not want to open that door, 12:13 because 12:14 his friend was so persistent in knocking on the door, 12:18 he had no choice but to open that door... 12:20 he felt compelled to open that door 12:23 so that he could give the food to his friend 12:26 for the visitor who had just come 12:28 and so, Luke 11:8 says, "I tell you this... though... " 12:31 that's what Jesus said to the disciples, 12:33 "though he won't do it for the friendship's sake, 12:37 if you keep knocking long enough, 12:39 he will get up and give you whatever you need 12:42 because of your shameless persistence. " 12:44 That's the New Living Translation... 12:46 you see, and so he probably didn't do it for the friendship, 12:50 he probably did it for peace 12:51 because you want to go back to sleep. 12:52 That's like the child nagging the parent... 12:55 just so you could keep quiet, they will give it to you 12:57 so you can just go back to playing, 12:59 you know, that kind of persistence there 13:01 and it reminds me a little bit of Hannah 13:04 because Hannah was purposeful 13:06 and also persistent in her prayer 13:08 when we spoke about her purposeful praying. 13:12 You know, she was also persistent... 13:14 she didn't stop when she asked God for that child, 13:17 she kept on praying with purpose persistently 13:20 until God answered her 13:22 and so, the history of intercession 13:24 highlighted in this parable is also important 13:27 you see, in that parable of Luke 11:5 to 8 13:31 because interceding for others is a big part 13:34 of our own prayer experience. 13:37 A lot of times we think it's just about praying for ourselves 13:40 praying for our families, 13:42 praying for our loved ones and so on 13:45 but prayer... a big part of growing in prayer... 13:48 a big part of being able to develop that spiritual muscle 13:52 the spiritual of muscles of praying 13:54 is really when you take time to pray for other people 13:58 and that is what this parable actually demonstrates... 14:02 praying for somebody else, pushing for somebody else, 14:06 knocking for somebody else 14:07 as if you're doing it for yourself 14:10 and that's what this friend did, 14:12 he did it as if his life depended on it 14:15 or his family's life depended on it... 14:17 when really... he was really knocking for 14:19 a stranger who came unannounced 14:21 and so we really need to look at that story, you see, 14:25 there are many of us who will not take time to do that, 14:28 like, when was the last time we actually prayed for somebody 14:31 so much... as if our own life depended on it? 14:33 We prayed for somebody's healing 14:35 from a sickness or disease 14:38 as if it was our own body that was sick, 14:40 when was the last time we prayed 14:43 for somebody who had financial difficulties 14:45 as if our bank account was in the red? 14:47 When was the last time we prayed 14:50 for the children of our neighbors or our friends 14:53 anybody's children... 14:54 as if it was our own children who were wayward? 14:57 And so, that's the kind of intercessory prayer 15:00 we see happening here, bold prayers... 15:03 because the actions of that guy to knock on his neighbor's door 15:06 at that hour of the night for a stranger 15:09 to that person... 15:10 his unannounced visitor was bold... you see, 15:15 it would have even caused problems 15:16 with their friendship the following day 15:18 because somebody might get really mad... 15:21 "Hey, you disturbed my sleep... " 15:22 you know, that kind of a thing 15:23 so, we need to look at this parable 15:27 that God has really brought to light there with the disciples 15:31 and see how it can help us in persisting in our prayer life, 15:35 not just for us, but for others 15:37 because persistent praying is unselfish praying 15:41 and that's what this parable highlights there. 15:44 It's like, "I want God to respond 15:47 even though it's not for me" 15:49 and I remember one of my friends... 15:52 she got... she lost eight babies... 15:55 some... she lost them in stillbirth, 15:58 others of them, they were born and so on... 16:01 but she eight babies 16:03 and I remember when she was pregnant the ninth time, 16:05 about nine of us in our ministry got together... 16:08 we all have different ministries 16:10 but once in a while we would get together to pray 16:12 but this time, we got together to pray for her 16:14 because she was still having some complications 16:17 with that baby, 16:18 and that night, I remember one of our friends praying 16:22 and he cried when he prayed and he said to God... 16:26 these are nine of us here with nine different ministries... 16:29 "If you do not answer this prayer... 16:31 if this child does not come to life, 16:33 nine of us would be discouraged in our ministries... 16:37 and all of these people that we have to influence and impact... 16:40 because of this baby dying... " 16:42 so we all agreed in prayer that, 16:45 "Hey, Lord, you have to bring this baby to term... 16:48 we're tired of death... our friend is not a cemetery, 16:51 we're tired of seeing death... " 16:54 and so, we really petitioned God 16:55 and, you know, tears flowing and everything... 16:57 and God was so good... that we were able to see that baby born, 17:02 we were able to dedicate him and now he is growing strong 17:07 and sometimes I say to him, "You're too strong... " 17:09 because when he was in the womb I remember Roger praying 17:12 that God would make him strong... he's very strong... 17:16 you see, because the thing about it is 17:18 that we are all connected to a common mission 17:22 we all had the same purpose and we are persistent 17:25 that that baby must be brought to term 17:27 and E.M. Bounds says... or encourages us to ask... 17:31 he said, "But to 'asking' we must add 'seeking... '" 17:34 and you know, when you're seeking... 17:36 that means, you are trying to find something 17:37 somebody says, "I'm looking for a job... 17:39 I'm seeking employment" 17:40 it means, you are relentless about it, 17:42 you are very deliberate, you are pursuant... 17:44 you're going and you're going and you're going... looking... 17:47 he said, "So in addition to asking, we need to seek... 17:50 and in addition to seeking, 17:52 we must pass into the full-force effort of knocking. " 17:55 So, that's what happened with this guy, 17:58 he went to his friend, of course, seeking his friend, 18:01 but in our own experiences... and then he was knocking... 18:04 so he says, "Don't just ask, you need to begin to seek 18:07 and then you have to be full-force knocking... 18:09 you need to knock... " 18:10 and that's what we did, we knocked... 18:12 so we had spent scores of prayer sessions... 18:14 lifting them up and that Friday night 18:17 when we prayed... 18:19 I believe that Friday night God really heard us 18:21 because tears... people cried to God as if 18:25 that child depended on their own marriage... 18:28 that child depended upon... 18:30 their own ability to continue to trust God... 18:32 that God could deliver... and stuff like that 18:35 and I remember, on my Facebook Group... 18:37 I have a Facebook Group called: The Prayer Chamber 7:14 18:41 like, Chapter 7 verse 14... but: The Prayer Chamber 7:14 18:44 and one young lady put a question there to us 18:47 because there we're only posting about prayer... 18:50 either prayer requests... 18:52 praise reports of answered prayer... 18:54 names about prayer... thoughts about prayer... 18:56 and one young lady put a question there... 18:58 she asked us, "What do you do when you pray for others 19:02 and God answers them but He doesn't answer you?" 19:04 So, we said to her, "You know what? 19:08 You keep on praying... 19:09 as hard as it might be, you need to keep on praying 19:12 because I think that if you're praying for others 19:15 and God is answering their prayers... 19:17 it means your answers are coming too. " 19:18 It means God is in the neighborhood answering prayers 19:21 and you need to be persistent... " 19:23 so she got a lot of encouragement... 19:25 "Keep praying... when we pray for others 19:27 God also has answered our prayers... " 19:29 and I think, part of that is that God wants to see how... 19:36 first of all... relentless we are... 19:39 how much we are willing to, you know, 19:41 persist in praying for other people... 19:44 and how genuine are we in continuing to pray for others 19:47 when we ourselves are not getting answers to our prayers. 19:50 I remember, I prayed for a friend of mine 19:52 sometime last year, 19:53 we had a powerful prayer session, 19:55 the day we prayed... 19:57 she texted me the following day 19:59 and said... that same day about two hours later, 20:01 she got a call for this big opportunity... 20:03 it was not a day later another big opportunity came 20:06 and I was there and I said to Him, 20:08 "I'm so happy you're answering our prayers, 20:09 I'm waiting for my answers too... " 20:11 because it gave me encouragement 20:13 "because if we prayed there together 20:15 and we brought up these requests to You, 20:17 we ask You for Your guidance and Your leading and direction 20:20 You are opening these doors for her, 20:22 that means You have some doors to open for me too, 20:24 I'm waiting... " 20:25 I was waiting... expecting something from Him 20:27 because He was answering my friend's prayers 20:30 so, many times we get discouraged praying for people, 20:32 because He's answering their prayers and not ours 20:35 but that should really keep us encouraged. 20:37 That's true, especially because He is answering our prayers 20:40 by answering their prayers... 20:41 if we're praying for other people 20:43 and we're seeing Him work in their lives... 20:45 He's answering our prayers. 20:46 Yes, and that's why it's a test of character... 20:49 you see, the blessings that God has for you... 20:51 they're not contingent upon the blessing that He has for me 20:54 or anybody else, 20:56 so sometimes we get a little confused 20:58 because we think... "Oh, He's blessing them... 21:00 He's answering their prayers... He's not answering mine 21:02 but what we don't realize 21:03 is that, whatever God is doing for them 21:05 does not prevent God from doing what He has to do for you 21:08 because the truth of the matter is... 21:11 where these blessings come from, there is so much more. 21:13 We say that, "there's so much more where that came from... " 21:16 so, that's why we don't even need to waste time 21:19 being jealous of people's blessings 21:20 because according to 21:23 how we interpret the Word of God 21:25 and the blessings that He has in store for all of us, 21:27 is that there are blessings that just have our names on it, 21:30 nobody can take the blessing that God has for you 21:33 and the blessings that God has for you 21:35 will not prevent Him from blessing His other child 21:38 or prevent Him from blessing anybody else 21:40 because He has so much more 21:43 where all of these blessings came from 21:45 that we need to begin to rejoice with others 21:47 when God actually answers their prayers 21:49 versus being upset and so we need to be diligent... 21:53 Absolutely. 21:54 I remember one of my friends, Gloria, 21:57 she's an older friend of mine... a mentor 21:59 and for a long time, like... 22:02 in fact, when I was in that prayer group, 22:04 I was the only unmarried person and also the youngest person 22:09 and for a long time she carried that burden to the group 22:13 every time we met 22:15 because we would be doing our individual ministries 22:17 but then would come together, 22:18 when we come together, she insisted every time 22:21 that the group prayed for me about me getting married 22:24 it was like, she was carrying that burden 22:26 for me, and it was something that was dear to her heart 22:30 that she had to see it happen, you know, 22:33 and so, one time she had heart surgery 22:35 but when she got back into the country... 22:37 when we met for the first time after that... 22:39 again she insisted, "Hey, we need to pray for this child" 22:44 and she would have them surround me and pray for me 22:46 because it was something that was on her heart... 22:49 something that was weighing on her spirit 22:52 on my behalf... 22:54 and so, that's why sometimes when we are praying for others, 22:56 we need to have that sort of burden... just like her 22:59 in carrying other people's burdens with us... 23:02 the Bible says, "Share ye one another's burdens" 23:05 and that's what we can do, 23:07 we can share in the burden in praying for these people, 23:09 helping them to carry that load, 23:11 being able to have that strength to carry on and so on... 23:14 and so, if we can't do our part physically, 23:17 if we cannot help provide for their needs and so on, 23:20 we can always go to God in prayer... seeking Him 23:23 so that He can continue to bless and take care of them and so on 23:26 and sometimes we are waiting for God to bless us in certain ways 23:30 or we have been praying about something for decades 23:32 and people are saying, "I'm tired for praying... 23:34 I've been praying about this forever... " 23:36 but what you need to do... 23:37 one of my favorite songs that I minister is, "Pray On... " 23:40 we need to continue to pray 23:42 because that's where the battle is won... 23:44 that's where we get the victory 23:45 but we want to give up, like you said earlier... 23:47 we give up before the blessing actually comes... 23:49 the thing is... 23:51 "Blessings delayed are not blessings denied!" 23:53 and so we need to continue in prayer... 23:56 and another story, I think, 23:57 that really highlights this idea of persistent praying, 24:01 is the story of the Canaanite women in Matthew 15:21 to 28 24:05 in that story, this lady goes to Jesus... 24:10 Jesus had just gone to a new town 24:12 and according to the account of Mark, 24:14 He went into a house... 24:17 but He didn't want people to know that He was there 24:19 but somehow she found out that he was there... 24:23 she's a mother... so this mother goes to Jesus 24:27 and asks Jesus to come 24:29 and deliver her daughter who was demon possessed, 24:32 a Canaanite woman goes to Jesus 24:34 asking Him that, 24:35 the disciples are like, "What's happening?" 24:38 They send the woman away, 24:39 they're asking Him to send the woman away actually 24:42 and stuff... because the Canaanite woman found Him 24:45 and she came crying, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me, 24:48 my daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession" 24:52 pause... 24:53 the woman continues to follow Jesus 24:55 and His disciples down the street 24:58 because in the eyes of the disciples, 25:00 Jesus shouldn't help her in the first place 25:02 because she's a Canaanite... she's unclean... 25:04 she's a Gentile... you don't attend to this woman, 25:06 many things happened... that story is really a big story 25:12 but one of the things that we can take from it 25:14 when it comes to persistence in prayer 25:16 is that the woman knelt down before Jesus... 25:19 and she began to scream out, "LORD! Help me!" 25:21 You could imagine that scene, "Help me!" 25:24 Yes, yes... 25:26 Then He said... it's not His place 25:28 and talked about "tossing the food to the dogs" 25:30 and she said, "You know what? 25:32 it's okay Lord, yes... " 25:33 "Yes Lord... " she said, 25:34 "even the dogs eat crumbs 25:36 that fall from the Master's table. " 25:38 So, there this woman is humbling herself before God... 25:40 she's crying out to Him... 25:42 He's giving her the explanation that the Jews would like to hear 25:45 the explanation that the disciples would like to hear... 25:48 "She's a Gentile... don't attend to her... " 25:50 but she said, "You know the dogs... " 25:52 she said, "That's fine... " 25:53 she said, "Even the dogs... dear Jesus... " 25:55 so she was so persistent in her request... 25:57 saying to Him, "Lord, I don't mind... 25:59 I don't have to sit at the table with the children... 26:02 I don't have to even... 26:03 I just need the crumbs that fall... " 26:05 and the Bible says that, Jesus said to her, 26:08 "You know what? Woman, you have great faith... 26:10 your request is granted... " 26:12 He granted her request... 26:13 "From this very hour... " the Bible says, 26:15 "her child was healed. " 26:16 Even though the woman knew her background 26:19 and she knew that in the eyes of the Jews she was unclean... 26:23 it also goes to show... look at this... 26:25 this woman was a Gentile and she was unclean 26:28 and she went to God in faith 26:29 believing that God could actually heal her child... 26:32 deliver her child... 26:34 but Jesus came from a place 26:36 where not even the Jews wanted to have anything to do with Him 26:39 they didn't want to believe Him but a Gentile is here 26:42 seeking Him to deliver her child 26:44 because she would have heard about Him 26:45 and believed in Him and His power. 26:47 So, there are a few take-away points we can have, 26:50 1. God never sleeps... 26:51 because in Luke 11... the friend was asleep 26:56 when his neighbor came knocking 26:57 but we can call on Jesus any time. 27:00 God encourages us to keep asking... 27:02 to keep seeking... and to keep knocking... 27:04 because He wants to grant us the desires of our heart 27:07 and intercessory prayers 27:09 also a true test of character for the Christian... 27:12 it tests our friendship with people 27:15 and how we are going out to God for them 27:18 and then it tests our friendship with God 27:20 because we would have spent so much time with Him... 27:23 we are so sure He will hear us and He will answer us. 27:26 So, let's just say a prayer, 27:27 "Father, there are many lessons for us to learn in this parable 27:31 of Luke 11 and even the story of the Canaanite woman... 27:33 we pray that you would give us 27:35 the spirit to continue to persist in prayer 27:37 even when we have the obstacles in front of us 27:40 that we will continue to believe 27:41 that you can do exceedingly above all that we can ask 27:45 or think... of you, we pray, in the name of Jesus, amen. " 27:47 "Amen. " 27:48 Thank you so much 27:50 for that insight that you've provided us with 27:51 on Persistent Prayer... 27:53 we pray that you were blessed by today's program... 27:56 we need to be persistent in our prayers... 27:58 don't give up on God... hang in there... 28:00 and the Lord will come through for you... 28:02 be sure to tune in next time 28:04 when Dr. Nadine shares more information 28:06 to supply the missing peace. |
Revised 2018-03-01