I must confess that one obstacle I've often wrestled with when it came to prayer is my theology. I know that God is "all-knowing" and "unchanging." If so, why pray?
The cliche answers, of course are, "We pray because God tells us to" and "Prayer changes us," but that is not always enough to drive us to truly labor in prayer.
I'm learning, however, that in some way prayer DOES have an impact on God. This is most obvious in Abraham's intercession for Sodom, and Moses' intercession for Israel. I also see it in Matthew 15:21-28.
In the story, Jesus and his disciples are spending time in "gentile territory." A Canaanite woman comes to Jesus and asks for help with her demon possessed daughter. Jesus seems to just ignore her. The disciples get tired of her and say to Jesus, "Just give her what she wants so she will leave us alone" Jesus says "no" because he is here to minister to Israel.
When she persists he says, "I can't take the children's bread and feed it to dogs." In other words, "I need to spend my energy on ministering to Israel - God's people - not you."
Wow. What an insult! And coming from Jesus! How would you respond?
The woman says, "even the dogs get to eat the crumbs that fall from the table."
Jesus responds with amazement at her great faith, praises her for it, and heals her daughter.
The lessons for me: I see three characteristics in the woman: 1) Boldness - she came to Jesus for help knowing full well that Jews and Gentiles have no dealings with each other. 2) Persistence - when Jesus ignores her she implores him all the more, and worships him. 3) Humility - after Jesus basically called her a "dog" (which was the common way Jews referred to Gentiles then), she admitted she wasn't worthy, but a just a few crumbs would satisfy.
As it all unfolds I see that the woman's boldness, persistence, and humility moved Jesus to respond. There is a delicate balance there, and it something I need to strive for in my prayers.
