Appealing to God's Compassion

Mr 9:22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.

Yes, the child’s father struggled with faith.  Perhaps not the faith in the ability of God, but rather, the will of God.  What struck me the most this morning is the plea for compassion.  He was not pleading for the omnipotence of God.  He was not pleading for ability of God.  He was pleading for the heart of God!  What a cry of despair and dependence.  Perhaps this is what is missing in our prayers.  Perhaps, instead of asking for the LORD to do something we know He can do, we should plea for the moral nature of God.  In particular, His compassion.

It is a difficult thing to turn down a request for compassion.  In senior High school, we were required to take three years of science.  Typically, it was physical sciences in ninth grade, biology in tenth grade, chemistry in eleventh grade, and physics in twelfth.  One of those years, the student was allowed treat it is an elective and take another technical course of study like earth science or computer science.  I remember going to my father, who always had to approve our course selection in my junior year.  The year chemistry was required.  I am and always will be, a horrible rote memorizer.  I just cannot do it.  I have to know why something is the way it is before I can remember it.  I remember seeing that periodic table all through my freshmen year.  I remember seeing it during biology.  I knew that if I was to take chemistry, an F was in my future.  However, I also knew my father was a stickler for form and function.  I would be the first of his children to ask to be opted out of a required class.  I also knew that if I went in to ask my father in a matter of fact way if I could opt out, he would turn me down.  So, I went into his office and laid out my reasons.  I did so, imploring his compassion.  I told him I would try if he really wanted me to, but memorizing that table was something I knew I couldn’t do.  He saw the look in my eyes, and moved with compassion, he allowed me to opt out and into computer science!  Appealing to reason alone did not work.  Compassion was what I desperately wanted.

Maybe, if our prayers are long in coming with answers, we should try appealing to the compassion of God!  It is a hard thing to turn down the request of a child who desperately desires to be relieved of some stress or duress.  God’s compassion fail not!  Time to pray for them!