Have you ever wanted to help, but didn’t know how to help. You didn’t know what to say. You didn’t know what to do. Everything you had to offer seemed so totally inadequate. I bet there’s someone you really wish you could help right now. Someone is hurting, but you don’t know how to heal that hurt. Someone is struggling, but you don’t know how to fix it. But my sister, there’s one thing you have the power to do that can absolutely, undeniably, radically change everything for them. YOU CAN INTERCEDE FOR THEM. We often use prayer as our last ditch effort when there’s nothing else we can do, but truthfully, prayer is the MOST we can do. Talking to the Father on the behalf of someone needing his divine touch … yes girl, that is powerful! Here’s what you can do: YOU CAN CALL IN JESUS! This is intercession. By definition it means to pray on behalf of someone else. It seems so small, but it is a holy act that unleashes divine power. The enemy has been working hard to distract you from becoming an intercessor of God’s power, hasn’t he? He’s been trying to make you feel it’s a waste of time and never really matters. But, the enemy of your soul is a liar from Hell. He doesn’t want you to know of the impact of your ability to call Jesus in, but he has failed to keep you from hearing this today! Within your Bible are 2 back to back stories of the impact of intercession. First, the story of the faith of a Gentile Woman in Mark 7: 24-30: Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know which house he was staying in, but he couldn’t keep it a secret. Right away a woman who had heard about him came and fell at his feet. Her little girl was possessed by an evil spirit, and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter. Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia, Jesus told her, “First, I should feed the children – my own family, the Jews. It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.” She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even the dogs under the table are allowed to eat the scraps from the children’s plates.” “Good answer!” he said. “Now go home, for the demon has left your daughter.” And when she arrived home, she found her little girl lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone. I’ve always skimmed right over this encounter in my Bible because I couldn’t make sense of Jesus referring to someone as a dog. It seemed so harsh, and so not like my Jesus. But digging deeper, I’ve come to understand this wasn’t Jesus being insensitive, this was a recognition of this woman being an outsider and a display of Jesus responding to her request even while he was fully aware of her position. In that day, Jews did not associate with Gentiles. They were considered unclean, unholy, unworthy people. A good Jew would have absolutely nothing to do with a Gentile. The Jews often called Gentiles dogs in a very derogatory way. To be called a dog was to be called a shameless and audacious woman, essentially the original B word used today. Jesus is acknowledging what this woman thought of herself. She knew her position and yet she humbly came to Jesus with her request. JESUS HONORED THAT! It’s the same as you and I coming to Jesus, knowing we haven’t always gotten right, knowing our priorities have been out of line, knowing we have fallen far short of perfect, and saying, “Jesus, I know I don’t deserve your goodness, but I’m humbly asking anyway.”