plication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto Cod. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6, 7). This is the power which unleashes spiritual energy from the hand of Cod Himself. In several of His parables, Jesus taught the importance of persis tence and perseverance in prayer. We also remember the poor broken-hearted mother who per suaded Christ to heal her daughter who was grievously afflicted with an unclean spirit. Undeterred by any circumstances, and particularly since she was not a Jew, she cried out to Jesus, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a demon." Scripture says He didn't answer her with even a word. Nothing is more difficult at times than silence. Perhaps the Lord wanted to test her faith and ear nestness. Does Cod ever seem silent to your petitions? Still the hope of this mother wasn't de terred. The Lord's disciples urged Him to send her away. Then the Lord Jesus spoke for the first time when He told His disciples, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." The poor woman, dropping the formal lan guage of petition, simply pled, "Lord, help me!" She realized that while she was not a Hebrew, not deserving of the promises, she came as a poor, heart-broken mother. The Saviour turned to her to explain, "It is not right to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs." This was a proverb similar to "Charity begins at home." Still this woman cried out
even more earnestly than before. With a beautiful charm of speech she agreed, "Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table." Realiz ing her faith the Lord agreed, "O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt." This woman knew the power of conquering prayer. Every conceiv able obstacle had been put before her, yet she overcame them all. Her life sounds forth as a monu ment of faith. She was exercised not for herself but for her daugh ter. This shows the reason why we should begin to pray for one another. Remember that you wield in your prayers the mightiest power which can move the world. We are to be careful in everything. By prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, we are to let our requests be made known unto the Lord (4:6, 7). We are to praise the Saviour, thanking Him as we pray. The result is the peace of Cod which passes all human com prehension. We are privileged to have a prayer-hearing and a prayer answering God. We need to learn to be satisfied with His answers even though sometimes the re sponse is "no." There are two definite prayers which we are encouraged to pray. The first is, "Thy will be done." The second declares, "Cod be merciful to me a sinner." Christ heard that last prayer while on the cross. He was touched as He said to the penitent thief, "Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise." Never minimize the importance and effectiveness of earnest and faithful prayer! It was always a concern to the Apostle Paul that some believers,
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