Mark 7:24-30

Mark 7:24-30

1. This passage is meant to encourage us to pray for others.
2. This passage is meant to teach us to persevere in praying for others.

"Fathers and mothers cannot give their children new hearts. They can give them Christian education, and show them the way of life; but they cannot give them a will to choose Christ's service, and a heart to love God. Yet there is one thing they can always do--they can pray for them."

"But do we pray for ourselves? Then let us take heed that we pray for others also. Let us beware of selfish prayers--prayers which are wholly taken up with our own affairs, and in which there is no place for other souls beside our own. Let us name all whom we love before God continually."

Questions:

1. Beloved parents, will we stand before the throne one day and hear from our gracious God, “I have a long record of prayers that were a sweet aroma to me and evidence of your faith in me and love for your son/your daughter?” May it be so!

2. Do we pray or are we, as Ryle says, godless, Christless, and hopeless?

3. Do we pray for others or only for ourselves? If we do pray for others, do we persevere in our prayers for them like the Syrophoenician woman, or are our hearts quickly cooled after a short season of no answers? Do we name all whom we love regularly?