Passionate Prayer

 

            I hope that none of us lives a whole day without prayer.  I know it happens from time to time, but hopefully we are smart enough to know a day without prayer is not worth living.  Each day needs prayer but there are times and circumstances that require passionate prayer. 

            Passionate prayer is how you pray when your loved one is facing the battle of his life.  An example of passionate prayer is the Woman from Cana.  Here’s a description of her prayer life from Matthew 15:21-28.

²¹ Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²² A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

²³ Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

²⁵ The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

²⁶ He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

²⁷ “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

²⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

           

            Another mother, who prayed so passionately the Priest thought she was drunk in church, was baron Hannah when she prayed to be given a son in 1 Samuel 1:12-18.

 

            Passionate prayer never gives up until the request is answered.  Seemingly no response, or worsening conditions won’t frustrate passionate prayer, rather prayer intensifies.  I have known some mothers who have prayed passionate prayers and they have seen results after years of never giving up.  Unwillingness to give up on your prayer until Jesus tells you to stop is an example of passionate prayer. 

 

            I hope you will experience realities on this earth where prayer is your only answer.  Our life experiences can develop us into passionate prayer warriors.  Impossible circumstances are the only way to learn the spiritual growth of passionate prayer.

 

            I’m not sure if the Woman from Cana was aware that Jesus was drawing deeper faith from her through His silence and lack of response to her prayer; or if she was just so desperate she had no other place to go until He would listen to her request on behalf of her daughter.  Jesus’ silence appeared to the disciples as lack of interest in her particular problem.  Jesus’ silence appeared to her as reason to yell louder and become more intense in her effort to help her daughter. 

 

            Jesus was growing more and more impressed by the prayers of this woman.  She even had the wisdom to accept the truth that Jesus was sent to the Jews by believing she only needed a crumb that fell from Jesus for her daughter to receive her miracle. 

 

            Passionate prayer is not reserved just for moms.  We each can grow spiritually by becoming passionate for someone else in prayer.  Who is God calling for you to pray passionate prayers?

 

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