Reading: Supplication and Intercession (Dr.

Roels)
Introduction
In Lesson Three we learned that God is merciful and gracious and that He delights in hearing our
prayers and answering them. We were reminded that nothing in our lives is too big or too small to be
beyond His interest or concern. We saw that He is so great and His resources are so unlimited that we
can be sure that nothing is impossible with God. And we were taught to focus first of all on the Lord
Himself, because when we "delight ourselves in the LORD,” He will give us "the desires of our
heart” (Psalm 37:4). When we read and studied all those wonderful truths, we were encouraged and
renewed as we saw over and over again that God truly does hear us and answer us when we pray.
In Lesson Three, we focused primarily on physical or material blessings. Such blessings are obviously
very significant and very important. However, as we saw in Lesson Four, it is possible to focus so much
on physical and material blessings that we forget or neglect that which is most important--namely,
loving God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength and loving others as ourselves.
In this Lesson, therefore, we will focus on three things:
(1) Prayers for SPIRITUAL blessings
(2) Prayers of INTERCESSION
(3) Prayers of SUPPLICATION

INTRODUCTORY QUESTIONS
(1) Is it really possible to make a distinction between prayers for "material or physical blessings” and
prayers for "spiritual blessings”? Are these not all interrelated?
Answer: All dimensions of our lives are interrelated in some way. However, there is a difference
between focusing on our spiritual well-being and focusing on our physical or material needs and
desires. In this Lesson we will focus in our prayer life on what we refer to as spiritual things.
(2) What are prayers of INTERCESSION?
Answer: In this Lesson we use the term "prayers of intercession” to refer to prayers that we offer
on behalf of others rather than ourselves.
(3) What is the difference between prayers of SUPPLICATION and simple requests?
Answer: Both requests and supplications refer to prayers in which we ask God for specific
blessings of some kind. However, it is possible to present a request to God without deep feeling
and without an urgent sense of need. Supplications refer to requests that arise out of a sense of
very deep feelings or very great need. For example, when someone we love is gravely ill or
critically injured, we don't simply ask God for help. We plead for help. We know that without a
special blessing from the Lord, our loved one might die. Prayers which are presented with great
earnestness or deep feeling are referred to in this Lesson as prayers of supplication.

BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING
God richly and graciously blesses us in many wonderful ways. However, He does not want us to
become "warehouses” where we store up blessings or treasures to spend on ourselves. Rather, He
blesses us so that we may glorify and praise Him for what we receive and also serve others in His name.
When we pray, therefore, we must always seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness rather
than focusing primarily on temporal or material needs. Though most believers would probably agree
with that, many people still tend to emphasize temporal blessings rather than spiritual blessings in
their prayers.
Already early in the Old Testament we read that God chose Abraham to be the person through whom
He would bless the entire world. God said to him, "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you
and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who
dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:2-3). That
promise was fulfilled primarily through Abraham's greatest descendant, Jesus Christ, who lived and
died and rose again so that all who believe in Him might have eternal life.
Very often, however, Abraham's descendants forgot that they were chosen by God to be a blessing to
others. As a result, they frequently focused on themselves, emphasized their special position in the
world as God's children, and concentrated on their own personal comforts and successes. When Jesus
came into the world two thousand years after Abraham, most of the Jews were still looking for an
earthly kingdom, earthly power, earthly prestige and earthly glory.
Even Jesus' disciples seemed at first to be primarily concerned about their own honor and
position in this life. Jesus had to remind them repeatedly not to seek earthly glory and power for
themselves--but to love and serve others in His name. (See Matthew 18:1-4; Matthew 20:20-21;
Matthew 23:11; Mark 9:34-35; Luke 9:46-48; Luke 22:24-27; John 13:13-15; John 13:34-35; John
15:12-13, 17.)
The Apostle Peter also reminded believers that God had chosen them in Christ so that they might bring
praise to God. He wrote:
"You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that
you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous
light” (1 Peter 2:9).
The Apostle Paul emphasized the same theme when he wrote to the church in Ephesus:
"He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his
will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” (Ephesians
1:5-6). See also Ephesians 1:11-12 and 1:14.

FOCUSING ON SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS

It's true that there are many wonderful things in this world for us to enjoy--and God has made it
possible for us to enjoy them. However, God does not want us to focus on these things as if they are
the most important things in our lives. They definitely aren't! The pleasures may not be wrong, but the
temptation exists to maximize that which is less important while neglecting that which is of greatest
importance.
The Apostle John warns us not to give in to that temptation. He wrote, "Do not love the world or the
things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the
world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life--is not from the Father but is
from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God
abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17).
The Apostle Paul was also keenly aware of the temptation to focus on secondary things and to neglect
that which is primary, but he personally was given the grace to triumph joyfully over that temptation.
He wrote:
 "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my
Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I
may gain Christ and be found in him” (Philippians 3:8-9).
In his letter to the Ephesians Paul described the kind of lives which believers should pursue--lives of
purity, holiness, obedience, and compassion (Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:1-20). And in his letter to
the Galatians he taught that when we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, our lives will produce
spiritual fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-
control (Galatians 5:22-12). These are the kinds of spiritual blessings on which we should focus and
these are the blessings for which we should most earnestly pray.

PRAYING FOR SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your name may
be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.” Psalm 67:1-2

"And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all
discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day
of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and
praise of God.” Philippians 1:9-11

Paul prayed for believers "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you
the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts
enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you.” Ephesians 1:17-18

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father . . . that according to the riches of his glory he
may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being.” Ephesians
3:14-16

JESUS' EXAMPLE OF PRAYING FOR OTHERS

When Jesus was on earth, He prayed frequently and earnestly to His Father in heaven. In His
passionate High Priestly prayer, recorded in John 17:1-26, He prayed for His disciples and for all who
would later come to believe in Him, focusing primarily on spiritual needs and blessings. On the night
before His crucifixion, He prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail (Luke 22:32). And on many other
occasions He prayed for long periods of time, almost certainly including the spiritual needs of others in
His prayers.
Jesus also continues to pray for us from His place of glory in heaven. In Hebrews 7:25 we read, "[Jesus]
is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make
intercession for them.” 1 John 2:1 assures us that "if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” And in Romans 8:34 we read, "Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is
the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is
interceding for us.”
We are greatly encouraged by Jesus' gracious prayers on our behalf. However, we should also be
inspired to follow His example. If Jesus continues to pray for us in heaven, we certainly should pray for
others while we are on earth! The Bible does not tell us whether or not believers are able to pray for
people after they have gone to be with the Lord in heaven, but it definitely does encourage us to pray
for each other now!
But praying for others can be very costly in terms of time and energy and commitment. In order for us
to pray meaningfully for others, we must know what their needs and concerns are. And that may take a
lot of time and effort. We must also persevere in prayer when answers to our prayers do not come
immediately. And we must be patient when we hear more about continuing needs than we hear about
victories and successes.
We must also be willing to be the answer to our own prayers by giving, helping, and providing what
others need. If we pray for the material needs of others, we should be prepared to share with them
what we already have. If we pray that they will be able to find a meaningful job, we should help them
find work. If they have some other need--whether physical, material or spiritual, we should willingly
help to meet that need in any way we can.
We must also be diligent in living the kind of Christian life we want others to live. If we pray that others
will grow in grace, we should ourselves live an exemplary life of obedience. If we pray that they will
find joy and peace in their lives, we should demonstrate joy and peace in our own lives. If we want
them to know the love of Christ, we should show that love in how we live. As an old familiar saying
reminds us, "YOU may be the only Bible that some people will ever read!”
Praying for others is an important and wonderful ministry of love and obedience. Even when we
ourselves cannot provide the help that others need, we know Someone who can! And it is our privilege
and responsibility to bring the needs of others to Him. He is able to do far more than we can ever ask
or imagine (Ephesians 3:20) and He loves His people with an everlasting love.

EXAMPLES OF PRAYING FOR OTHERS

Abraham prayed earnestly that God would spare the people of Sodom. Genesis 18:22-32
"Moses cried out to the Lord, 'O God, please heal her--please.'” Numbers 12:13
Moses prayed, "'Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your
steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.” Numbers 14:19

David prayed that God would remove the plague from his people.1 Chronicles 21:17

Jesus said, "Bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” Luke 6:28

Stephen prayed: "'Lord, do not hold this sin against them.'” Acts 7:60

To the believers in Rome Paul wrote: "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the
Israelites is that they may be saved.” Romans 10:1

To the believers in Thessalonica Paul wrote: "We always pray for you, that our God may make you
worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so
that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of
our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

PRAYING SINCERELY AND WITH PASSION

Many people offer up prayers to the Lord without demonstrating either passion or compassion. They
may be genuinely sincere, but neither their speech nor their actions demonstrate any kind of intensity
or urgency. They "mention” the names of people in their prayers, but they do so without much feeling.
They ask God to "bless” certain people or to meet certain needs, but they do so rather routinely.
God does hear those prayers and He often graciously grants what people ask for. But feeble,
passionless prayers usually do not result in the kind of powerful, miraculous responses the Bible
frequently describes. In most cases in the Bible when God responded to prayer with a demonstration of
special power, the answer came in response to an earnest and passionate prayer.
It's important to remember, however, that earnest, passionate prayer does not have to be loud or
prolonged or expressed in eloquent speech. Sincerity and passion are matters of the heart, not a
matter of volume or length or choice of words. According to James 5:16, it is "the prayer of a righteous
man” that is powerful and effective. Quiet, humble prayers--even silent prayers which express the
deepest desires of our hearts--can be sincere, intense, powerful, and effective.

There are many times, however, when the sincerity and passion of those who pray is reflected in what
they do or in the words they use when they pray. For example, sometimes prayer is accompanied by
fasting. Sometimes prayers are bathed in tears. Many times people "cry out” to the Lord as they seek
relief from their distress. Others plead earnestly with the Lord, passionately begging Him for needed
help. And some will continue to pray with perseverance and passion until they receive what they ask
for.
In addition to praying with perseverance and passion, it is important to pray with faith, fully trusting
that God will hear what we ask for and grant what we desire. Prayers of faith may be offered with the
greatest confidence when we are seeking to bear spiritual fruit to the honor and glory of God, thus
demonstrating the truth of Jesus' words recorded in John 15:16: "You did not choose me, but I chose
you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit . . . so that whatever you ask the Father in my
name, he may give it to you.”

PRAYERS OF SUPPLICATION IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Although people in Old Testament times did not yet know the mercy and love and kindness of Jesus,
they did know that their God was a powerful, merciful, loving, and compassionate God. They also
believed that God heard their prayers and would graciously answer them. It is not surprising, then, that
the Old Testament contains many passionate prayers of believing saints who offered their earnest
supplications to the One who could save, rescue, protect, and forgive them.
"How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How
long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my
enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O LORD my God. Light up my eyes, lest I
sleep the sleep of death.” Psalm 13:1-3

"With my voice I cry out to the LORD . . . Attend to my cry for I am brought very low. Deliver me
from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me! Bring me out of prison, that I may give
thanks to your name!” Psalm 142:1, 6-7

Moses said, "I lay prostrate before the LORD for these forty days and forty nights because the
LORD had said he would destroy you. I prayed to the LORD, 'O LORD God, do not destroy your
people.'” Deuteronomy 9:25-26

"David . . . sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the
ground.” 2 Samuel 12:16

"Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD and said, 'Please, O Lord, remember
how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good
in your sight.' And Hezekiah wept bitterly.” Isaiah 38:2-3

Daniel wrote: "Then I turned my face to the LORD God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy
with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.” Daniel 9:3
 Nehemiah wrote: "As soon as I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days,
and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” Nehemiah 1:4-6

JESUS AND PRAYERS OF SUPPLICATION

The New Testament also has many references to prayer, though it does not have as many specific
prayers of "passionate intercession” as those listed above. Interestingly, some of the most passionate
prayers recorded in the New Testament are the prayers of Jesus Himself. Although we do not know
exactly what Jesus prayed for in every situation, we know that He sometimes prayed to His Father all
night (Luke 6:12) or early in the morning (Mark 1:35). The Gospels also contain references to Jesus'
fervent prayers while He was in the garden of Gethsemane before His crucifixion and also while He was
on the cross.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, "Jesus knelt down and prayed, saying, Father, if you are willing,
remove this cup from me. . . . And being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat
became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Luke 22:44

While He was on the cross, "Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me?'” Matthew 27:46

In some of His parables, Jesus also referred to the importance of sincere and even passionate
prayer.
Jesus said, "Will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night?” Luke 18:7

In His parable about the tax collector and the religious Pharisee, we read that "the tax collector,
standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be
merciful to me a sinner!'” Luke 18:13

THE APOSTLE PAUL AND PRAYERS OF SUPPLICATION

At one point in his life, the apostle Paul was given some kind of "thorn in the flesh” which significantly
affected his ministry. He wrote about this thorn in these words: "A thorn was given me in the flesh, a
messenger of Satan to harass me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave
me” (2 Corinthians 12:7-8). However, in spite of Paul's earnest prayers and great faith, the thorn was
not removed. Instead of getting what he had asked for, God gave him "sufficient grace” to deal with
the thorn so that he could continue his God-appointed ministry.
Paul's "unanswered passionate prayer” did not keep him either from working or from praying or from
urging others to continue to pray. Read the following references to Paul's emphasis on offering prayers
of supplication to the Lord.
To the believers in Thessalonica Paul wrote: "We pray most earnestly night and day that we may
see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith.” 1 Thessalonians 3:10

To the Christians in Colossae he wrote:" We have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may
be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in
a manner worthy of the Lord.” Colossians 1:9-10

To believers in Rome, he wrote: "I appeal to you, brothers . . . to strive together with me in your
prayers to God on my behalf.” Romans 15:30
 To the Philippian believers he wrote: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by
prayer and supplication with thanks-giving let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians
4:6

To the Christians in Ephesus he wrote: "praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and
supplication . . . making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to
me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an
ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak.” Ephesians 6:18-20

OTHER REFERENCES TO PRAYERS OF SUPPLICATION IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Believers continued to pray fervently as the church began to grow and missionaries were sent out to
other lands. In Acts 4:31, we find that after the believers prayed, "the place in which they were
gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the
word of God with boldness.” Sometime later believers were fasting and praying when the Lord
answered their prayers to determine who would be the first "foreign missionaries” (Acts 13:2-3).
In Acts 12 we read that the Roman authorities killed the apostle James and then put Peter in prison,
preparing to execute him within a few days. "Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was
made to God by the church” (Acts 12:6-17). God answered those fervent prayers and miraculously set
Peter free from prison and brought him to the home where the believers were praying.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

God often gives us wonderful physical and material blessings in answer to our prayers, and we should
be very grateful for each one of them. However, the primary goal of our lives should not be to become
rich, comfortable, or blessed with a superabundance of material things. Rather, our prayer life should
focus first of all on bearing spiritual fruit that will bring glory to God and blessing to others.
As Jesus Himself taught us, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear
fruit and that your fruit should abide so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to
you.” John 15:16

Reading: Praying Like Puppies (Dr. Feddes)

"True, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.” (Matthew 15:27
NKJV)

Picture yourself in a situation where you've got a huge problem, and it's tearing you apart. You've
tried all sorts of things to make it better, but nothing works. You're getting sadder and more desperate all
the time. Then one day you hear about someone who can make things better--you're sure of it. So you go
to him. When you find him, he's relaxing with his friends. As soon as you see him, you blurt out your
problem and ask him to help. And what does he do? He does nothing. He says nothing. He just ignores
you and acts like you're not there.
At that point, it might seem best to leave, but you decide to keep after him till you get his attention.
Still he doesn't respond. Before long his friends get sick of you, and they urge him to get rid of you. The
man finally opens his mouth and speaks, but what he says isn't at all encouraging. He says that it's his
job to help only a certain kind of people--and you're not one of them. Time to give up and go home,
right? But you're desperate and you're sure he can help if he wants to, so you plead even more urgently.
 And what's his response? He says it's not right to take food away from children and feed it to their
puppies. In other words, lots of people have a better claim to his help than you do; you're just a puppy
who won't stop begging.
Now, how would you feel if somebody treated you that way? Wouldn't you feel humiliated and
hopeless? And wouldn't you feel even worse if you'd heard beforehand that this person was supposedly
kind and loving, but then he gave you a cold shoulder? What a letdown! Worst of all, just suppose the
person who treats you this way goes by the name of Jesus.
In Matthew 15 the Bible tells the story of a desperate woman who came to Jesus begging for help,
but Jesus kept putting her off. According to the Bible, Jesus decided to leave his home territory in Israel
for some time away in another region where mostly non-Jewish people lived. "A Canaanite woman from
that vicinity came to him, crying out, 'Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering
terribly from demon-possession.'"
But, says the Bible, "Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him,
'Lord, send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.'"
He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” (Matthew 15:22-24). Jesus came into the
world as a Jew, and his years on earth were to be spent ministering among his fellow Jews in the land of
Israel. In light of that, why help a Canaanite, a descendant of the ancient enemies of God and his people?
The woman didn't challenge the point, but she wasn't about to take no for an answer. "She came and
worshiped Him, saying, 'Lord, help me!'”
"But he answered, 'It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs.'”
Here's where the story really gets interesting. It's not very flattering to be compared to a little dog,
and some people would be so offended that they'd stomp away in anger. But not this woman. She figured
that sometimes even a puppy has a prayer. If Jesus wanted to call her a little dog, fine. She'd accept his
words and find something good in them. "True, Lord,” she said, "yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs
which fall from their masters' table.” She'd pray like a puppy if she had to.
Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.”
And her daughter was healed from that very hour (Matthew 15:25-28 NKJV).
This woman may have had puppy faith, but according to Jesus, it was great faith. Her story proves
that even if you face the most discouraging circumstances, even if the Lord doesn't seem to care about
you, even if you seem to have no place among God's people, you shouldn't give up. Jesus never drives
away those who come to him in faith.
This story shows at least five important things about the kind of faith involved in praying like
puppies. First, faith is drawn by the greatness of Jesus and driven by the greatness of our need. Second,
faith keeps after Jesus, no matter what the obstacles. Third, faith agrees with Jesus, no matter what he
says. Fourth, faith reasons with Jesus, using his own words. And fifth, faith gets Jesus' approval and
blessing. Let's look at each of these.

Drawn and Driven

First, faith is drawn by the greatness of Jesus and driven by the greatness of our need. There was a
lot this woman didn't know about Jesus, but she knew enough to recognize his greatness and be drawn to
him. She called Jesus "Lord,” recognizing him as Master and Ruler of all creation. She called him "Son
of David,” recognizing him as the King and Savior God had promised Israel.
The greatness of Jesus drew her to him, and at the same time the greatness of her need drove her to
him. She knew she couldn't overcome the demon that was destroying her daughter and her. She knew the
evil power was too much for her to handle on her own. To make the situation even more desperate, she
knew she didn't have any merit of her own. Jesus didn't owe her anything. She couldn't go to Jesus
claiming she had earned the right to his help. She simply had to plead for mercy: "Lord, Son of David,
have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession.”
That's where all true faith begins: with recognizing who Jesus is and how much you need him. At
that point, you're both drawn and driven. The greatness of Jesus draws you to him, and the greatness of
your own need drives you to him.
As long as you ignore Jesus' true greatness, you won't come to him in faith. If you see Jesus only as
a good man or a wise teacher, it won't do you much good. You need to recognize his divine greatness.
Believe that he is God with us, the ruler of the universe and the rescuer of God's people.
And even as you come to see who Jesus is, you must also see how much you need him. Take your
cue from the Canaanite woman. Give up on yourself. Don't think you can overcome evil on your own.
Don't think you can earn God's favor on your own. Throw yourself on the mercy of Jesus and beg for his
help. Trust that even though your need is great, Jesus is far greater. Trust that although you can't do
anything to earn his favor or pay him back for his help, Jesus will have mercy on you because he is love.
When you pray like a puppy, your prayers combine adoration and desperation. As a puppy adores its
master, you adore Jesus. As a puppy desperately begs for what it can't get on its own, you beg for Jesus'
help. You are drawn by the greatness of Jesus and driven by the greatness of your need.

Keeping After Jesus

That brings us to a second thing about praying like puppies: faith keeps after Jesus, no matter what
the obstacles. Once you've been drawn to Jesus by his greatness and driven to him by your own great
need, once your heart is filled with that mysterious mix of adoration and desperation, nothing can make
you give up. Puppy faith is persistent.
Have you ever seen a puppy take hold of a bone or toy that you're holding out? That puppy clamps
down his jaws and tugs. If you try to get the bone away, does the puppy meekly give up and let go? No,
the little dog clamps its teeth even more firmly, digs in its paws even deeper, pulls harder than ever, and
keeps pulling till you let it have the bone. The puppy refuses to be shaken loose or driven away.
Prayer is like that. When Jesus has in his hand the great gift of help and salvation, lay hold of it,
hang on tight, and don't let go no matter what. Faith keeps after Jesus no matter what the obstacles and
never gives up.
If ever someone ran into enough problems to make her give up on Jesus, it was the Canaanite
woman. Look at all the obstacles she encountered. First she ran into silence from Jesus, but she wouldn't
give up. Then she ran into the negative attitude of Jesus' followers, but she wouldn't give up. Then she
ran into a discouraging doctrine, but she wouldn't give up. She ran into all these obstacles, but she kept
after Jesus anyway.
How about you? Maybe you've run into similar obstacles. Maybe you know what it's like to cry out
to Jesus and get no answer. You pray for his help, but all you get is silence. You beg to be free of a
terrible burden, you plead for peace and joy, but the Lord doesn't do anything or say anything. Your
prayer seems like a complete failure. What an awful feeling! It's hard to keep praying when your prayers
don't seem to be getting through. It's hard to keep believing when the Lord doesn't seem to notice you.
But don't give up. Keep trusting. Keep praying. Even if there is no answer, no peace, no joy, no
assurance of salvation, don't give up. That Canaanite woman didn't give up when the Lord seemed to be
ignoring her, and neither should you.
Another obstacle you may run up against is a negative attitude from followers of Jesus. A church
leader or some Christian people deal with you in a cold, hard way. They make you feel like you're a
nuisance or something even worse. They don't really care what happens to you. You're a loser, not worth
bothering with. It hurts terribly to be treated that way.
 But listen: don't let any negative behavior of Christian people make you give up on Jesus. I'm sure
the Canaanite woman felt hurt when Jesus' disciples asked him to get rid of her, but did she give up? No,
she kept after Jesus until she got a response from him. She wasn't about to let some rude, unsympathetic
people drive her away from the only one who could help her and her daughter. If Christian people have
mistreated you and made it seem like you should forget about Jesus, there's no excuse for what they've
done. But there's also no excuse for letting them keep you away from Jesus. Do what that woman did.
Keep after Jesus. Even if some followers of Jesus hurt you, don't lose your focus. Keep looking to Jesus.
Ignore the blunders of his followers and keep after Jesus.
Another obstacle that may seem to stand between you and Jesus is a difficult doctrine, a teaching
that sounds like it excludes you from a place among God's people. For example, the doctrine of election
has this effect on some people. The Bible's teaching of election is that from all eternity God has chosen
certain people for himself. You may hear that doctrine and think you're not one of those chosen people
and lose all hope.
But you're not the first person to run up against a doctrine that seemed to be against you. Look at the
Canaanite woman. Imagine how she must have felt when Jesus told her, "I was sent only to the lost
sheep of Israel.” This woman wasn't part of Israel. Her ancestors were ancient enemies of Israel and
were so evil that they had brought God's curse on themselves. If Jesus was sent only to the lost sheep of
the chosen people of Israel, what hope could there be for someone of her accursed race? But the woman
wouldn't give up just because it sounded as if God's decree was against her and she wasn't among God's
chosen people. Whatever the decree might be, whatever the doctrine might mean, she knew one thing for
sure: Jesus was her only hope. So she fell before him in reverence and cried out the simplest of all
prayers: "Lord, help me!”
Perhaps you are troubled by this or that doctrine, by this or that puzzling secret of God. But
whatever confuses or troubles you, be sure of one thing: all hope and salvation is found in Jesus. Go to
him. Look to his sacrifice on the cross. Put your hope in him, even when there doesn't seem to be any
hope, even when every logical deduction seems to be against you. Fall before Jesus and plead, "Lord,
help me.” You might not be an expert in theology or be good at saying fancy prayers, but that three-word
prayer packs enormous power: "Lord, help me!”
When you pray that prayer, you will find, as the Canaanite woman did, that a doctrine which at first
seemed to shut you out has just drawn you in to the embrace of God's eternal love. Jesus told the woman
he was sent only to Israel, but as it turns out, Jesus' idea of Israel includes a lot more lost sheep from a
lot more nations than anyone would have guessed. God saves only the elect, the chosen, true enough; but
in God's design, the blessings of his chosen keep spilling over to others, who suddenly find themselves
among the chosen as well. Anyone who looks to Jesus for salvation finds out that he or she is among
God's chosen. The Lord has chosen and saved a lot of other unlikely people. Why not you? Jesus says,
"All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away” (John
6:37).
If you feel too weak and unworthy to qualify for Jesus' help, congratulations! You're in touch with
reality: you are too weak and unworthy. But you can still pray, "Lord, help me,” and you can still trust
Jesus promise, "Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” Even if he seems to be driving you
away, keep after him anyway, and you will be welcomed at last.
No obstacle can keep God-given faith from coming to Jesus, whether the obstacle is unanswered
prayer or bad treatment from others or a difficult doctrine or a feeling of unworthiness or something
entirely different. Faith keeps after Jesus no matter what the obstacles.

Agreeing With Jesus

Now for the next point: Faith agrees with Jesus, no matter what he says. Faith doesn't contradict
Jesus; faith worships. The Canaanite woman was kneeling at Jesus' feet, begging, "Lord, help me!”
When Jesus responded, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs,” did the
woman contradict him? Not for a moment. She simply said, "True, Lord.” Think of it! Jesus compares
her to a little dog, and she simply says, "True, Lord. If you say that I'm like a little dog and that others
have more right to your help than I, I won't disagree or contradict you. Any help you give will be your
choice, not my right, not something I deserve. I can beg, but I have no right to demand. I accept your
words as truth. You know better than I.”
British preacher Charles Spurgeon once preached a great sermon on this story that I found very
helpful in preparing this article. Spurgeon says, "Faith pleads, but never disputes, not even against the
hardest thing Jesus says... Genuine faith believes anything and everything the Lord says, whether
discouraging or encouraging.” Faith never disagrees with Jesus, no matter what he says. Instead, faith
accepts what Jesus says and then finds hope in it.

Reasoning With Jesus

That brings us to our next point: Faith reasons with Jesus, using his own words. Where unbelief
might see only an obstacle or an insult, faith sees an opportunity. Faith knows how to argue with Jesus,
not in the sense of disagreeing or disputing with him, but in the sense of believing what he says and then
building a case on his words.
When Jesus compared the Canaanite woman to a little dog, she didn't take it as an insult. She
accepted Jesus' statement as truth and found in that truth a basis to reason with Jesus and obtain his
blessing. In the original language, the word Jesus used for dog referred to little household dogs that the
children played with, not to the stray mongrels that roamed the streets of that time. Some people--
including Jesus' disciples--may have seen this woman as a filthy mutt, but Jesus compared her to a
puppy. Being called a puppy may not seem very flattering, but the woman found hope in it. When Jesus
said it's not right to take bread out of children's mouths to feed their pets, the woman saw her chance.
"Yes, Lord,” she agreed, "I agree--and even puppies eat the scraps that fall from their masters' table.”
See how puppy prayer reasons with Jesus? "I don't want you to deprive others in order to help me,
Lord, and I don't claim to be the most deserving of your kindness. I may only be a puppy, as you say, but
I'm your puppy. You are my Master, and you're going to take care of me. After all, it's not like you're a
poor master with limited resources. You don't have to deprive others in order to help me. You can easily
afford to meet their needs and still have plenty left. They can eat their fill from your banquet of blessing,
and you'll have plenty left for a puppy like me.”
If you have faith in Jesus, don't talk about your own qualifications or about how much you deserve
his help. Take his words and his greatness as the basis for claiming his help and salvation. When you
come in faith to Jesus, you're not coming to the table of a poor man who has to scrimp and scrounge just
to feed a few hungry souls. You're not coming to someone who can't afford to lose a crumb anywhere.
You're coming to the banquet of a king. Jesus has such a great supply of mercy and love and healing that
he can satisfy everyone who enters his banquet hall--even those who are only under the table begging.
So go ahead and pray like a puppy. Say to Jesus, "Lord, your help and salvation would mean the world
to me, and it would only be a crumb to you, so infinite is your power and goodness. I'd rather be a puppy
under your table than a prince anywhere else. The smallest tidbits of your power and goodness are more
than enough to nourish and fill me.”
Jesus delights in that. He enjoys it when you take his own words and use them to his glory and your
own benefit.

Receiving Jesus' Blessing

That brings us to our final point about praying like puppies: faith gets Jesus' approval and blessing.
When the Canaanite woman came to Jesus, he first delayed helping her and tested her faith. But, as
Charles Spurgeon puts it, "he was all the while delighting in it, and secretly sustaining it, and when he
had sufficiently tried it, he brought it forth as gold, and set his own royal mark upon it.”
Through the various delays and difficulties, Jesus moved the woman to develop and display a faith
that was very humble and yet very bold and clever. Jesus pushed her to the point where her faith
appeared in full strength, and then he did what he had been intending to do all along: he praised her faith
and gave her the desire of her heart. "'Woman, you have great faith!'” he exclaimed. 'Your request is
granted.' And her daughter was healed from that very hour.” The evil power that was wrecking that
home was driven out. Mother and daughter began a new life that day through the power of Jesus.
There is hope here for anyone, no matter who you are, no matter how grim your situation. Maybe
some evil power is destroying you or someone you love. If so, start praying like a puppy. You may feel
as helpless as a tiny puppy facing a vicious bear, as dirty as a little dog that's been digging in all the
wrong places, as mistreated as a mutt nobody cares about, as unimportant as a pet under the table hoping
for some scraps. None of that matters. Go to Jesus as you are, and beg the way a puppy begs for food.
Don't be afraid or ashamed. Just go.
No matter how unworthy you might feel, no matter how grim your background might be, no matter
how great the sin and evil that is wrecking your life, go to Jesus. Kneel before him in prayer. Keep after
him, no matter what the obstacles. Agree with him, no matter what he says. Reason with him on the
basis of his words. He will not turn you away. Jesus delights in puppy faith. He saves all who come to
him this way. You may start out begging as a puppy, but you will find that he transforms you and adopts
you as his child. Jesus can do that for anyone--even you, even me. If you feel like an outsider to
Christianity and yet are drawn to Jesus, then be encouraged. He won't fail you.
If you're already a Christian, be encouraged as well. Be encouraged to pray, humbly and yet boldly.
In particular, be encouraged as you pray for Jesus to help or save someone who is dear to you. You may
be a parent praying for a child, like the mother in the story. You may be praying for a spouse, a friend, a
neighbor. Whoever you are, whoever you might be praying for, keep on praying like a puppy. Keep
pouring out your heart to Jesus on behalf of that needy person. The Lord who saved that woman's
daughter from the power of a demon can answer your prayers too.

Reading: A Match Made in Heaven (Dr. Feddes)

"Let her be the one you have chosen.” (Genesis 24:14)

Picture this: You're single, and your father thinks it's time you got married. But he doesn't want you
to marry just anybody. He's got a certain kind of person in mind for you. So what does he do? He calls in
the top person who works for him, his right-hand man, and he tells him to find you a spouse.
Doesn't sound very romantic, does it? Would you want your father to decide what sort of person you
should spend the rest of your life with? Would you want the vice president of your dad's business to be
the one who goes out to find that special person for you?
That's not the way most of us go about looking for a sweetheart, is it? That might be okay for people
in long-ago cultures with arranged marriages, but not for us. We believe in freedom, personal choice,
romance, love at first sight! We're modern! We're advanced! We couldn't possibly let our parents get
involved in choosing our marriage partner. No, we depend on reliable, romantic things, like singles bars
and newspaper ads and computerized dating services.
Come to think of it, maybe those old days weren't so bad. We might smirk at the strangeness of
another culture's matchmaking customs, but look at the funny business in our own culture: overpriced
flowers, classified ads, bar hopping, backseat groping, Internet romance, video dating services, chocolate
valentines, and all the rest of our oh-so-progressive-and-romantic culture. Is this really so much better
than having your parents set it all up for you?
 At any rate, we're going to look at a story that includes all sorts of things we're not accustomed to:
ancient customs, tribal clans, arranged marriages, thirsty camels, nose rings. (Oops, history I guess
history has come full circle and nose rings are back in style for some folks. But anyway...) Our story
involves a number of things that seem strange to modern ears, and not all of these things need to be
imitated today. But at the heart of the story is something that must never go out of style, something that
should always be central to the matchmaking process. The special something is prayer.
At a crucial point in our story, a man prays, "O Lord God, give me success... Let her be the one you
have chosen.” That should be the prayer of every person searching for a spouse. There's nothing more
important than choosing the person God has chosen for you, and to do that, you need to pray. If you
want a match made in heaven, you need help from the God of heaven.
Have you ever prayed that God would provide the right mate for you, or for your children, or for a
dear friend? Have you ever prayed, "Lord, let her be the one you have chosen”? The Bible story where
we find those words involves some unusual, ancient ways of matchmaking that you might not want to
copy. You probably aren't too eager to have your dad or his top manager pick your mate for you. But
how about having God pick your mate for you? How about praying to God and being matched up with
exactly the person Godprovides? That's what ends up happening in the story we're going to look at, and
that's what needs to happen in our own stories, the stories that are being written right now.

Basic Principles
In Genesis 24 the Bible tells how Isaac, the son of Abraham, ended up with a wife. Father Abraham
wanted to make sure his son got the right kind of wife, so he called in his chief servant, the man in
charge of all he owned, and he made the man take an oath in God's name to get a wife for Isaac--and not
just any wife. She had to come from a clan of people who worshiped the Lord, the one God of heaven
and earth. In the search for a wife, some basic principles had to be honored.
Years earlier God had called Abraham to leave his family and relatives behind and go a new land
that God would give him and his descendants, the land of Canaan. However, there were no women in
Canaan who worshiped the one true God, so the woman for Isaac would have to come from somewhere
back in the old country. There, at least, women in the clan Abraham had come from would know the
name of the Lord. Abraham's servant would have to go on a long trip to that area in search of that special
someone for Isaac.
There might be a problem, though. Suppose the servant found a good woman but she didn't want to
move? "What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land?” the servant asked. "Shall I
then take your son back to the country you came from?”
"No,” said Abraham. "Make sure that you do not take my son back there. The Lord, the God of
heaven, brought me out of my native land and promised me and my offspring this land. He will send his
angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. If the woman is unwilling to come
back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine.”
Abraham was absolutely convinced that it would be wrong for Isaac to marry someone who didn't
worship the true God, and he was convinced that it would be wrong for Isaac to marry anyone who
would lead him to move back to the old country and give up on the destiny God had promised for
Abraham's descendants. Abraham was convinced of these principles, and he was convinced that if they
stuck to these principles as they searched for a wife for Isaac, God would prepare the way and provide
the right kind of woman. If God didn't, the search would be over. It would be better for Isaac to go on as
a single man than to marry a heathen woman or a woman who would pull him away from where he
belonged.
Notice that all of this was nailed down before the search even began, before any prayer for special
guidance. That's an important lesson for us. First get your principles straight; only then should you pray
for more specific help in finding a mate.
 Never consider marrying someone who doesn't share your faith. Don't even date such a person. If
you're a Christian and you're dating someone from a non-Christian religion or no religion at all, don't
bother praying and asking God to show you whether this is the right person. It's not. You don't find the
right person by looking in the wrong crowd. You don't find a match made in heaven among people who
aren't headed for heaven. The Bible says, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For... what does a
believer have in common with an unbeliever?” (2 Corinthians 6:14)
Isaac was a person set apart, the child of promise that God had given to Abraham and Sarah. It was
through Isaac and his offspring that God was going to carry on his special plan in the world and bring
blessing to all nations. It was through Isaac's line that God would raise up a people for himself, and it
was through Isaac's line that the Savior of the world would come. Isaac was under God's covenant, and
he needed a wife who would help him keep that covenant and maintain it to the next generation. A
godless wife might end up damaging Isaac's relationship to God, and just as serious, she might lead their
children away from God.
Still today, Christians need mates who will build their faith, not tear it down. We need mates with
whom we can nurture children who will live under God's covenant promises and carry God's blessings to
the people around them and the entire world. For God's sake, for your own sake, and for the sake of any
children you might have, you absolutely must stick to the principle of marrying only someone who
shares your faith.
A second principle Abraham insisted on is one that we also need to keep. Abraham insisted that it
wasn't enough to find a godly person for Isaac; she also had to be someone whose own preferences
wouldn't lead Isaac away from his place and calling. Isaac couldn't go back to live in her land on her
terms. God had plans for Isaac in the land of promise, and so any person who wouldn't join him there
just wasn't the person for Isaac.
You may have a strong sense that God calls you to a certain place or to a certain type of work. Then
you meet a person who is a good Christian but whose own choices don't fit with your calling, who
doesn't want to go the direction you have to go. Even if you feel an attraction, that's not the person for
you, at least not if your prior sense of calling is really from God. You need to be matched with someone
who can be your partner in the place God puts you, not someone who feels the need to be somewhere
else.
Get your principles straight. Know what kind of person you need. Your future spouse must be
someone who shares your faith, and your future spouse must be able to support any special calling that
God has for you. If God wants you to be married, he'll provide that kind of person. If he doesn't, you're
not meant to be married--at least not yet. Stay single until God brings into your life a person who
matches the principles you must follow as a member of God's covenant. You're better off being single
and wishing you were married, than being married and wishing you were single.

Praying for Guidance

Back to our story in Genesis 24. With the basic principles clear in his mind, Abraham's servant
loaded up ten camels with all kinds of good things and set out for the town where Abraham's old clan
was located. When he got there, he parked his camels near a well just outside the town. He was in the
right place, looking among the right people, but how in the world would he know which girl was the
right one for Isaac? He did what every person of faith should do in such a situation. He prayed. He said,
"O Lord, God of my master Abraham, give me success today...See, I am standing beside this spring, and
the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a girl,
'Please let down your jar so that I may have a drink,' and she says, 'Drink, and I'll water your camels too'-
-let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac.” (v. 12-14).
The man was praying for a special sign. Quite a number of girls might be kind enough to give a sip
of water to a stranger, but how many would offer to lug water for ten thirsty camels that could drink
more than twenty gallons each? If God answered the man's prayer by leading a girl to do something so
unusual, then he would have his sign. "Let her be the one you have chosen.” And what happened?
Before he had finished praying, Rebekah come out with her jar on her shoulder... The girl was
very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever lain with her. She went down to the spring, filled her
jar with water, and came up again.
The servant hurried to meet her and said, "Please give me a little water from your jar.”
Rebekah said, "Drink, my lord”... After she had given him a drink, she said, "I'll draw water
for your camels, too, until they have finished drinking.” So she quickly emptied her jar into the
trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. Without
saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his
journey successful.
By the time Rebekah finished getting over 200 gallons worth of water out of the spring and carrying
it over to the water trough for those ten big, ugly camels, the man had seen enough. He took out a gold
nose ring and two gold bracelets and he asked, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room
in your father's house for us to spend the night?”
He found out that, yes, this hard-working young beauty was from the same clan as Abraham, and
yes, there would be plenty of feed for the camels and room for him to spend the night. The servant
bowed and worshiped the Lord and thanked God for his kindness and faithfulness and for answering his
prayers.
The Bible then describes with a chuckle how Rebekah's family handled all this. Rebekah went back
and told them what had happened. Her brother Laban had expensive taste and liked anything having to
do with money. Laban took one look at the gold nose ring and the gold bracelets, and he figured the right
man was after Rebekah. He raced out to meet Abraham's servant and blessed him in the name of the
Lord and said, "Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”
Abraham's servant went to the house, took care of the camels, and washed up, but he insisted that he
wouldn't eat a bite of food until he first said what he had to say. He told how God had made Abraham
rich and how God had blessed Abraham and Sarah with their son Isaac and how Isaac needed a wife. He
told of how he himself had prayed and of how God answered his prayer right while he was still praying.
Then he asked if Rebekah could come and meet Isaac and marry him.
Rebekah's father and brother answered that this was all from the Lord. Who were they to say yes or
no? Of course Rebekah should go. However, the next morning, when Abraham's servant wanted to leave
with Rebekah, her brother and mother wanted her to stay another ten days or so. But the servant said he
wanted to go right away. The Lord had answered his prayers, and he didn't want to keep Isaac waiting.
They asked Rebekah if she was willing to leave so soon, and she said, "I will go.” Then her family gave
her a parting blessing and sent her off.
What a woman Rebekah was! She was beautiful, and the Bible doesn't mind saying so. But her
beauty wasn't only skin deep. She was a woman of purity, a virgin. She was a lovely, desirable woman,
but she kept herself pure for the man she would marry. Rebekah was also kind: she gave a stranger a
drink. And she was kind far beyond the call of duty: she carried a couple hundred gallons of water for
the man's thirsty camels. And to top it all off, she was courageous and decisive. She was willing to leave
her home and family on short notice, in the simple trust that this was God's leading and that the man God
had appointed for her would be a good one.
God didn't disappoint Abraham and Isaac and their good servant. They stuck to their principles, they
prayed for God's guidance, and God answered their prayers. Rebekah wasn't perfect. Nobody is. But she
was quite a person, and beautiful besides. She was just the woman Isaac needed. She was God's answer
to prayer.
Love That Lasts
Here's how the Genesis 24 ends. Isaac went out to the field one evening to meditate. (I think I'd
meditate too if I knew that I might be getting a wife soon, and all I knew about her was that she'd be
somebody picked by my dad's top employee--and by God! But anyway...) The Bible says, "Isaac went
out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up he saw camels approaching. Rebekah also
looked up and saw Isaac.” She asked the servant who that man was, and the servant said, "That's my
master.” After Isaac met Rebekah and heard the servant's story, Isaac brought Rebekah into his tent and
married her. "So,” says the Bible, "she became his wife, and he loved her” (v. 67).
It all began with a deep commitment to principle, and with a fervent prayer for God's help, and it
ended with a great marriage: "She became his wife, and he loved her.”
Now, as I said before, you might not want your father and his most trusted confidant to pick your
wife for you. Still, if you've got good parents with a solid marriage, it wouldn't hurt to at least get their
advice and even to seek their approval when you're starting a relationship or thinking about getting
married. But, above all, you need to pray and seek God's help. Nose rings may go in and out of style, but
prayer is always in style when it comes to looking for a mate. We need to keep communicating with
heaven in order to enjoy matches made in heaven.
My wife and I have eight children. Long before any of them were even close to marrying age, we
were already praying for our children's future spouses. If you have children or grandchildren, I
encourage you to pray often about their future, and to start praying already when they're little. Pray that
someday God will give them a good mate who loves the Lord Jesus Christ, or else help them to serve
Jesus as pure, energetic singles. I pray about my children's future marriages in my private, personal
prayers, and when I pray aloud with my children each night, I often pray with them about a possible
future spouse. I want each of them to have a match made in heaven, and I want them to go through life
with a sense that love and marriage are precious gifts from God and that prayer is an important key to
obtaining these gifts.
Pray this way not only on behalf of your children or grandchildren but also on behalf of any friends
who would like to meet and marry the right person. Pray that they can enjoy serving God as singles, and
pray that if they are meant to be married, God will lead them to the right person and that they will be
sensitive to God's guidance. A match made in heaven isn't just a matter of two individuals magically
meeting each other. Often the guidance of heaven is clearest where family and friends and fellow
believers pray for God's help in finding the right person and for God's blessing on marriages that have
already been established. All the good advice in the world can't replace the power of prayer.
Now, if you should pray for God to guide others in meeting a mate, then you should be praying extra
hard if you yourself are in the market for a mate. Commit yourself to the principle of finding someone
who loves the Lord and can be part of God's covenant along with you. Commit yourself to the principle
of finding a mate whose own plans for life won't force you to give up any special calling the Lord may
have laid on you. Then pray. Ask for God's leading. I don't suggest asking for a person who will water
your ten thirsty camels for you, but you should certainly ask for a strong sense of God's leading and
guidance. Pray the biblical prayer: "O Lord, give me success. Lead me to the person you have chosen.”
And if you're already married, keep right on praying. Pray that God will nourish your love and make
it grow ever stronger and more beautiful. Pray every day for God's blessing on your mate, and pray that
you will be the kind of person who brings joy to the one you love. Remember, love is an ongoing choice
and commitment, not just a warm feeling. When you get married through a match made in heaven, love
your spouse as Isaac loved Rebekah. And at a deeper level, love as Christ loved the church and gave
himself for her (Ephesians 5:25). Marriage is designed to show something about the relationship
between Jesus Christ and his people, so make sure your marriage doesn't tell lies about Jesus. Make your
love a reflection of his, so that Jesus' light and love shine from your marriage and home.
 All of this is vital to living by faith. Faith isn't just a feeling or an abstract idea. Faith is living in a
covenant with your Creator and Savior. Faith is trusting the God who calls you into his family through
Jesus Christ, and it's living in the love and faithfulness of that loving and faithful God. Covenant faith
involves parents who, like Abraham, want what's best for their covenant children. Covenant faith
involves young people who, like Rebekah, keep their bodies pure, are kind to strangers, and are willing
to work and to follow God wherever he leads. Covenant faith involves people who, like Isaac, meditate
on God and tenderly love the person God gives them. Covenant faith involves people who, like
Abraham's servant, stick to their principles and depend on prayer when they're not sure what to do next.
Covenant faith involves all of us who know that a flourishing relationship with God is the foundation for
flourishing relationships in marriage, family, and friendship.

Reading: Hungry for Help (Dr. Feddes)

We fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer. (Ezra 8:23)

Family trips can be exciting and fun, but they can also be difficult, even dangerous. If you
travel together for too long, you can get on each other's nerves. Younger children start to get
bored after awhile, even if you have games, stories, music, or even videos to keep them
entertained. Bad food or a nasty bug can make people sick and make the journey harder for
everybody. Little ones get grumpy if their sleep patterns are interrupted, and teenagers and
grownups may not be much happier. As the trip goes on, the driver can get distracted or
drowsy, and the danger of an accident increases. Still, despite difficulties and dangers, family
trips are usually worth it and leave us with many good memories. One thing is for sure: family
trips are a lot easier than they used to be. We have better transportation, we have more
gadgets to entertain kids along the way, and we don't face as many dangers as travelers in
earlier times. We may get tired of hearing, "Are we almost there?” but that's better than
wondering whether you'll survive long enough to get there.
The Oregon Trail has been a hit computer game with millions of people. The Oregon
Trail re-creates some of the dangers that pioneers faced when they were traveling across
plains and mountains in the mid-1800s. As you play the game, you quickly find many things
that can go wrong for a pioneer and many ways to die. You can run out of money or food or
water. You can get sick with fever or dysentery. You can be attacked by thieves or hostile
natives. You can break a leg, get bit by poisonous snakes, suffer a wagon accident, or drown
while trying to cross a river. The good news is that even if you die, it's just a computer game.
Still, it shows you some of the hazards of going on such a journey.
Now, if a family trip can get on your nerves and if you think pioneers on the Oregon Trail
had a tough challenge, try to picture an even harder trip. You and your people have been living
for years as exiles in a foreign land, and you want to return to your homeland. You don't have
planes or trains, trucks or cars. Most of you will have to travel on foot. You will be traveling
through some very bad neighborhoods, where crime is high and armed gangs commonly
plunder people. The group that's making the journey with you will include pregnant women,
nursing mothers, little children, elderly folks, and all sorts of people who can't travel fast or fight
well, people who are vulnerable to sickness and injury. On top of all that, you've already
refused any protection or help from the ruler who controls the wider empire. You will be
traveling through territories where your people are hated, and you won't have any police or
military forces for protection. That was the challenge facing a community of Israelite people
who planned to return from Babylon to Jerusalem under Ezra their leader.

"We Fasted And Petitioned”

Ezra was not a politician or a military man. He was a Bible scholar and teacher. He knew
that the Israelites had been exiled for offending God, and he knew that their return would
depend entirely on God. No matter how hard the trip, no matter how great the danger, they
could still make the trip back to Jerusalem. They could make it without the protection of
government, but they could not make it without the help of God.
Ezra gathered in one place all who would be making the trip. He helped them to organize
and prepare for the journey, and he told them to seek God's help. In the Bible book of Ezra,
chapter 8, Ezra writes,
I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for
a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. I was ashamed to ask
the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because
we had told the king, "The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him,
but his great anger is against all who forsake him.” So we fasted and petitioned our
God about this, and he answered our prayer (Ezra 8:21-23).
Nowadays some of us look mainly to government for protection and help, but Ezra was
embarrassed to beg for government protection after he had preached God's power to help
believers. Instead of turning to government, Ezra and those with him did something that few of
us would even think of doing: they fasted. They were hungry for help from God. They set apart
a time to go without food and to pray urgently. After that time of fasting, they set out for
Jerusalem. Men and women, old people and children, spent about four months traveling on
foot and covered about 900 miles. It was hard and dangerous, but they made it. Ezra wrote,
"The hand of our God was on us, and he protected us from enemies and bandits along the
way. So we arrived in Jerusalem” (Ezra 8:31). They did not fall victim to attack, starvation,
illness, accident. God gave them the help they had hungered for.
You and I face many situations where we need help, where we face challenges too big for
us to deal with, dangers too great for us to handle, problems too hard for us to solve. Indeed,
life itself is a long and challenging road, a dangerous journey, and if our goal is to make it
safely to the city of God at the end of life's journey, we need the Lord's protection all along the
road. When you and I need help in times of crisis, how can we get it? By asking for it. That
involves praying, and in our times of greatest need, it involves not just praying but fasting as
well. Ezra hungered for God's help and got it, and so can we.
Christian fasting differs from the fasting practiced in some other religions. The new
covenant in Christ does not set any particular day for fasting, and Jesus doesn't order us to
fast during any particular season of the year, the way some religions do. Jesus assumes that
his followers will fast sometimes, but he doesn't set a schedule or list a bunch of requirements.
Fasting is not just a scheduled performance but something we do when the occasion calls for
it. In this program we're looking especially at those occasions when we urgently need special
help from God.
The Bible often connects fasting with prayers for help at major turning points or times of
extreme crisis, and the Bible shows that when people are hungry for help, God sends it. God is
personal, not mechanical, so we shouldn't use prayer and fasting as a way to push God's
buttons. God isn't a vending machine, so fasting and prayer won't automatically make God do
what we want. But because God is personal, the more urgently we ask, the more intently he
listens. The more hungrily we pray for his help, the more he pays attention to our requests.
Prayerful fasting is not a technique to manipulate God. It's a response to God's own invitation.
Prayerful fasting is a powerful, God-approved way to appeal to the Lord for help. The Bible tells
true stories of people who desperately needed help in times of crisis, and who obtained God's
help through fasting and prayer. The Bible's account of Ezra's long, dangerous journey is one
such story.

"Our Eyes Are Upon You”

 Another story comes from the time of Jehoshaphat, who reigned as king of Judah a few
centuries before Ezra's time. King Jehoshaphat trusted God and ruled his people with justice
and wisdom. But some hostile rulers from neighboring countries banded together and
combined their armies for an attack against Jehoshaphat and his people.
Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, "A vast army is coming against you. Alarmed,
Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.
The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD. (2 Chronicles 20:3-4).
As they were fasting and hungering for help, the king prayed,
"O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all
the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can
withstand you... We have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do
no know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.”
All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there
before the Lord. (2 Chronicles 20:6,12-13)
God saw all those families who were counting on him for help, he saw the huge number of
invaders and their terrible weapons, and God decided to step in. The Spirit of God spoke
through a prophet and said,
"Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours
but God's. Tomorrow march down against them... You will not have to fight this battle;
stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do
not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will
be with you” (20:15-17).
When King Jehoshaphat and his people heard that, they worshiped God. The next day
they went out to face the enemy, singing as they went: "Give thanks to the Lord, for his love
endures forever” (20:22). Then something amazing happened. The invaders suddenly turned
on each other. Instead of attacking God's people, these armies slaughtered each other. By the
time Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah got to them, there was nothing left of the enemy but
dead bodies--and piles of equipment, clothing, and valuables, so much it took three days to
gather. What had begun as a terrible threat to the people of Judah ended up making them
richer. After God gave them that victory, it was a long time before anybody dared to attack
them again. They had hungered for help, and God blessed them. Fasting and prayer produced
peace and prosperity.
History records other times when fasting rescued a nation from invasion. In 1756 Great
Britain faced an impending invasion, and the king of Britain called for a solemn day of prayer
and fasting. The great preacher John Wesley wrote in his journal, "The fast day was a glorious
day... Every church in the city was more than full, and a solemn seriousness sat on every face.
Surely God heareth prayer, and there will yet be a lengthening of our tranquility.” The invasion
didn't happen.We've become so modern and sophisticated that few of us would even think of
fasting and asking God to turn back aggression and prevent conflict. Some leaders in the past
may have been too quick to equate God's cause with their own, but some were also quicker
simply to acknowledge that they didn't know how to prevent bloodshed and calamity, and they
were quicker to call on their people for prayer and fasting. For example, during the American
Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln called for fasting and prayer four different times. He did
not claim God was on his side or that he understood all God's purposes. He simply wanted
people to express their desperation at a terrible war that was destroying thousands on both
sides. These days, when government faces a problem, does it declare a fast? Does a leader
ever echo King Jehoshaphat and say to God, "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are
upon you.”
 When threatened by terrorism or military aggression, the government might announce
increased military spending and tighter security measures but not call for fasting. In the face of
AIDS and other epidemics, government might pass out condoms but not proclaim a fast. It
would not be politically correct.
I wonder how often we as nations, as churches, as individuals, face problems that God
could turn to blessings if only we would ask. I wonder how many bad things God would turn to
our good if only we would fast and pray. If we're not hungry for help, God isn't likely to send it.
As the Bible puts it, "You do not have because you do not ask God” (James 4:2).

"For Such a Time as This”

During the time of the Persian Empire, the Jewish people were threatened with extinction.
An influential official named Haman, second only to the king of Persia, hated the Jews and
wanted to wipe them all out. Haman succeeded in getting the king to authorize a decree that
declared the Jews to be enemies of the empire and that set a date for destroying them all.
When the news of this spread throughout the empire, "there was great mourning among the
Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing” (Esther 4:3).
Meanwhile, the queen herself was actually a Jew, but neither the king nor Haman knew it.
Queen Esther's cousin Mordecai urged her "to go into the king's presence to beg for mercy and
to plead with him for her people” (Esther 4:8). The queen replied that this would be too
dangerous. For one thing, if she revealed her Jewishness, she herself would be a target of the
decree. Worse yet, there was a strict law that if anyone came to see the king in his inner court
without being invited, that person must die. A queen could be killed as easily as anyone else,
and the king hadn't called for her in over a month. The only exception to the death penalty for
coming uninvited was if the king would extend his golden scepter to show favor. Esther feared
that if she went to the king on behalf of her people, she would accomplish nothing except get
herself killed. But her cousin said that if Esther did nothing, she would die anyway. This was an
opportunity she must act upon. Mordecai added, "And who knows but that you have come to
the royal position for such a time as this?” (4:14)
Esther was persuaded to go to the king, but she didn't want to go alone. She wanted God
to go with her. She didn't want to depend only on her charm, and she didn't want just the slim
hope that the king would be in a good mood. She wanted God to help her, and she wanted
God to move the king to spare her life and the lives of her people. So Esther asked her cousin
to tell all the Jews in the capital city to fast for her, not eating or even drinking anything for
three days. She and her maids would also fast. "When this is done,” she said, "I will go to the
king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” Three days without food or
water is an extreme fast, but it was an extreme danger. If the queen failed, it meant death for
her and for all her people.
The people hungered for help, and they got it. God worked things out for their good. The
king extended his gold scepter to Esther and even promised to give her anything she asked
for. By the end of the story, it was not the Jews who perished but Haman and others who tried
to wipe out God's people.

"The Encouragement of the Scriptures”

The pattern is plain. Desperate people fast and hunger for God's help, and the Lord meets
their need. When the preacher Ezra faces a long, dangerous journey with vulnerable families
through dangerous territory, they fast--and God brings them safely to their destination. When
King Jehoshaphat and his country face an invading army, they fast--and God defeats the
enemy and gives his people peace. When Queen Esther and her people face extermination,
they fast--and God rescues them.
In light of this, what should we do when we need help? Do we dare neglect fasting? Do we
dare ignore the very thing that has moved God again and again to help his people? If you don't
call on God when you're in trouble, if you don't fast when you need help, then don't be
surprised if trouble continues and help doesn't come. God says, "Call upon me in the day of
trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me” (Psalm 50:15).
Bible stories about fasting and receiving God's help are not just for our information but for
our imitation, not just for our entertainment but for our encouragement. "For everything that
was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the
encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). God gives us the
stories of Scripture so that when huge problems come our way, we won't be discouraged and
hopeless, but will instead be encouraged and full of hope that God will help us and give us a
bright future.
This particular kind of fasting aims to solve a power shortage by begging for God's power.
It seeks a much-needed breakthrough not by ordinary resources but by extraordinary
empowerment from God. Such fasting may be appropriate during a serious personal crisis,
such as marriage conflict, strains between parents and children, a financial crisis where you're
in danger of not having food to eat or a place to stay, or threats from crime or other threats to
your safety. Call on God in the day of trouble, fast and hunger for his help, and you will be
blessed in ways you might have missed otherwise.
It's good to fast for help with personal matters, but don't limit it to that. When Ezra fasted, it
wasn't just for his own safety but so that all his people would have a safe journey, and they
joined in his fasting. When King Jehoshaphat fasted, it wasn't just so that he would survive the
invasion himself but so that the nation would be spared, and his people joined him in fasting.
When Queen Esther fasted, it wasn't just so that she would not be killed but so that her people
wouldn't be killed, and they joined in her fasting. In short, fasting for help is not just for
individuals but for God's people as a community.
Today God's community is not any particular country or racial group. God's community is
the church of Jesus Christ, all followers of Jesus around the world. When the church seems to
have a power shortage in the face of challenges, it is a time for Christians to fast and hunger
for help.
Christians in Korea are a shining example of what happens when God's people pray and
fast. While Christians in some parts of the world have been weak in prayer and have neglected
fasting, Korean Christians have frequently fasted and prayed for greater power from God's
Holy Spirit. The results have been astonishing. Only a few decades ago, the church in Korea
was small and struggling, but the power of the Holy Spirit made the church strong. God has
added millions and millions of new believers in Korea. There has been astounding church
growth and a major impact on the culture and nation of South Korea. Not that long ago, the
Christian presence there was small and weak, but now Korean Christians have won much of
their country and are even spreading the gospel to other nations. That's what God's power
does in response to prayer and fasting.
Those of us who are leaders in the church should be quicker than anyone else to depend
on God's power. When Jesus was starting his public ministry, the first thing he did was to fast.
He was getting ready for a showdown with Satan, and he was seeking power from his Father
to speak mighty words, to drive out demons, do amazing miracles, and to bring God's reign
near to people. If you're a church leader, when is the last time you fasted and pleaded for God
to give his church greater power to show God's glory and win people to him? When is the last
time your congregation asked why it is not winning more converts or seeing people becoming
more Christ-like, and when have you fasted and prayed for renewal and revival? We might
have conferences and strategic plans, we might produce versions of the Bible to suit every
interest and age group, we might offer worship services to suit every taste, but how many of us
are fasting and hungering for power from on high? If the church has a power shortage, maybe
it's time we stop trying to do everything by our own efforts and simply say to God what King
Jehoshaphat said as he was fasting: "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.”
Fasting is appropriate for a congregation and for the wider church not just when there is
some scandal or error to repent of but also when the church just seems ineffective and
powerless to overcome obstacles and transform lives. Whatever shortage the church faces--a
shortage of skilled teachers, a shortage of money, a shortage of healing, a shortage of
transforming power--God has the resources to meet every shortage. Fasting is a way to hunger
for help and to receive his blessing.