Mark 7:24-37  Jesus takes a trip to Tyre. This would not be just a stroll over to the next town, for Tyre was located on the Mediterranean Sea in what is now the country of Lebanon.  In Jesus' time this was a Roman trade port. It appears that Jesus knew people there in Tyre for He enters a house there, hoping to be unnoticed.  But, of course, people noticed....

Only one incident is recorded in Mark for us, so it must have had some significance.  A woman comes to Jesus and begs Him to free her young daughter from demon oppression.  How young this child is, we do not know, but when the woman returns home the child is laying on the bed, so she must have been very young.   We do know is that this woman was a Gentile.  Mark tells us she was Syrophoenician,  Matthew says she is Canaanite. The first would be more of a regional designation, the latter, more of a cultural reference.  Either way, she was most definitely not a Jewish woman.
Matthew tells us that this woman cried out and shouted to Jesus, " Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed."  When Jesus would not answer her, she kept on shouting.  The disciples wanted Him to simply send her away, she was so loud and persistent in her pleas.

But, when Jesus answered her finally, " I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."  and " It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."  ( Matthew15:24, 26)  To which Mark adds, " Let the children be satisfied first..." ( Mark 7:27)  It is not very encouraging...

The woman answers Jesus carefully, " Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children's crumbs."  Or as Matthew puts it,  the dogs " ... feed on the crumbs which fall from their master's table."   This answer revealed to Jesus the woman's faith.  " O woman, your faith is great; be it done for you as you wish."  Matthew records. And Mark adds,   " Because of this answer go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."    And, when the woman returns to her home the child was found delivered, freed from the demon.

After this, Jesus leaves the region and returns to Galilee.  Like the time that Jesus crossed the sea of Galilee and healed the demoniac, it appears that this meeting was a divine appointment.  Jesus travels a long way to meet this one specific need.  Perhaps this woman had been praying for help long before Jesus came into town.... perhaps it was her faith and intercessions for her daughter that brought Jesus there in the first place.  No matter what, we can be encouraged by this miraculous deliverance of this little girl.

Be encouraged to be an intercessor.  Pray for those in need.  Come to Jesus on behalf of those who cannot or will not do it themselves.   Jesus delivered the child because of the prayers of her mother.

Be encouraged to ask for what we wish.  Jesus answered the woman's request exactly as she presented it.  " ... be it done for you as you wish".  She asked for help for her daughter and He answered that need exactly.   Sometimes we get so bogged down by praying for  "God's will, for God knows best"... that we are afraid to ask for anything at all!  She asked.. Jesus answered.  He did not condemn her for asking for what she needed done.

Be encouraged to keep on asking/praying, even if there is silence from the Lord.  The woman was annoying the disciples, but Jesus wasn't annoyed... He was waiting.  We do not know the Lord's reasons for waiting to answer our requests, but we need to learn to not give up.  E.M. Bounds calls this the " importunity of prayer."  He writes, "Without persistence, prayers may go unanswered.  Importunity is made up of the ability to hold on, to continue, to wait with unrelaxed and unrelaxable grasp, restless desire, and restful patience. Importunate prayer is not an incidental occurrence, but the main thing; not a performance, but a passion; not an option, but a necessity."

Father in heaven, You are never- changing and never-failing.  We come before You with praise and thanksgiving, for You are perfect and holy; righteous and merciful.  You hear our cries and shouts and prayers.  We come to You,  hoping for crumbs, but encouraged to ask for "daily bread".  For we are Your children and You are our Father.  Help us to pray with passion and persistence, with faith and compassion for those in need.  Teach us to come boldly to Your throne of grace, to pray in Your Spirit, in the Name of our Gracious Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.