“Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!”  And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly” (Mark 7:33-34).

Very physical and very real — this is the way Jesus chose to do this healing.  What was it that was in the way and why was it done this way?  Everything Jesus does is intentional.  The Lord will walk with us and work with us in the way we need for things to be done and will do so for His reasons.  Everything Jesus did was unique for the person with whom He was dealing.  Is it not the same for each one of us?

Lord, in this world, I tend to think in terms of sameness, but I often do not see that this is true in Your dealing with individuals in the Gospel.  You dealt with each individual and often acted upon them in different ways.  Help me to understand that it should be the same with those around me.  Each person is unique and an individual.  Help me to meet others as the individuals that You have made them to be.

Lord Jesus, I have looked at You and wanted to sit in a class as You teach me, but You walk alongside me and teach me every day.  There are many lessons You have taught me and many more I need to learn.  Help me to live into the life You have given me so that I may learn and become more like You according to Your leading.  Guide me in the way You know I need to go.  Amen.

“Again He went out from the region of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of Decapolis.  They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to lay His hand on him” (Mark 7:31-32).

Of course, Jesus can do things.  All things are possible with God.  With great intentionality, the Lord will do what the Lord will do.  There are many needs in this world, so we ought to be careful of making anything of one healed and another not.  The Lord loves us all equally.  However, do ask and trust that the Lord is more than able to do whatever He determines.  He will lead all who hear His voice and follow Him.

Lord help me to learn how to have unconditional faith.  You can heal me.  Where I do not hear and have a closed mouth, open my ears and mouth to hear You speak and then speak Your word of truth.  Lead me to do what is in accordance with the Father’s will.  Help me through all the obstacles that get in the way so that I learn how to be faithful in all that You give me to do.  Be the One who guides me along life’s journey.

Come, Holy Spirit, and open my mind and heart to receive Your instruction.  Open my eyes to see, my ears to hear, and my tongue to speak the truth of Your word.  Through Your ministry, help me to minister to others.  Guide me along the right path so that I become faithful through all things.  Teach me and help me learn the lessons You will teach.  Guide me step by step today and every day to learn to be faithful.  Amen.

“And going back to her home, she found the child lying on the bed, the demon having left” (Mark 7:30).

If Jesus says something is done, it is done.  It took faith for the woman to leave Jesus and trust in what she could not see.  Her faith was affirmed and her daughter was healed.  We know no more of her, but one cannot help but wonder about the preparation this created for the spreading of the Gospel after this when Jesus was raised from the dead.  There is purpose in everything, and the Lord is purposeful in all that He does.

Lord, grant that I would come to have faith such that when You tell me something, I believe and act on the faith.  In this world of constant questioning, I often continue the query and do not act on what You have given me.  Thank You for the examples of the faithful who trusted Your word.  Lead me to equally trust that Your word will never come back void but will accomplish what You have intended.

Lord Jesus, author of my faith, You are the Word made flesh that has spoken with power and authority.  Help my unbelief so that I become a person of action.  Guide me through the barriers that come my way in order that I would move beyond what hinders me to trust in Your word above all others.  Lead me in the way You know I need to go and help me to follow wherever You take me.  Amen.

“But she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.”  And He said to her, “Because of this answer go; the demon has gone out of your daughter” (Mark 7:28-29).

We all should have such an attitude.  “I am unworthy of anything You would give me, Jesus.”  The sinful reaction of becoming indignant is too often present.  Are we content with whatever the Lord will give us?  Do we rejoice and give thanks for all His gifts?  This woman had great faith and trusted the Lord for whatever He was willing to give her.  She and her daughter received the greatest gift of all in knowing that Jesus has the power to cast out all demons.

Lord, I often act as if I were someone special.  I am not.  I am who You have made me to be.  Lead me away thinking in terms of worthy or unworthy to understand that You have called me to follow You.  Help me to be content with whatever scraps You give me.  You know what is needed and all that You give me are good gifts according to Your perfect will.

Lord Jesus, I see that You will go to whatever length to bring out in me genuine faith.  Help me to be a willing participant in the journey of faith that You have set before me.  Guide me through those places where I feel slighted or indignant to be thankful for all that You give.  Cast out the demons in my life and set me free to be Your disciple.  Through all things, help me to do the Father’s will.  Amen.

“Now the woman was a Gentile, of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (Mark 7:26-27).

 An outsider comes to Jesus.  Do we let outsiders in?  The world has been filled with those who segregate and separate.  We do not see others the way the Lord does.  He created us, and loves every one of us.  We are each created in His image.  The Lord is not being harsh but is eliciting a response.  He does the same with us.  Will we live by what we know, or trust in the One who knows us?

Lord, when I first look at this, I wonder why you would seem so harsh.  But You are speaking the truth.  You came to Israel, but I know now that You came for all who would believe.  Help me to see that You also seem harsh to me at times as You elicit a response of faith from me.  You want for us all to come to You and be led in the way of righteousness.  Help me to take those steps of faith You place before me.

Lord Jesus, You know what You are doing.  In every instance I read in Scripture, You are bringing faith to the forefront.  Of course You will do the same for me.  Guide me to make the good confession freely and willingly.  Help me to live by the faith You have given me trusting that all things are now and always in Your hands.  Teach me what it means to live by faith, trusting Your promises.  Amen.

“Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know of it; yet He could not escape notice.  But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet” (Mark 7:24-25).

Jesus had a difficult time getting away.  This world is constantly pressing in on us and it is hard to get away from the constant rush and noise.  Our Lord always has compassion and is filled with grace and mercy.  Every day, there are those who reach the end of themselves and fall at Jesus’ feet.  It is the Lord alone who can meet our every spiritual need and bring us from this noisy and busy world to Himself.

Lord, I have wandered in this age by the constant busy noise that overwhelms me from time to time.  Help me to see that You are the One to turn to first, and not the last.  Help me learn how to come to You every day and not just wait until I am desperate.  Teach me temperance so that I am balanced in the life You have given me, doing what is pleasing in Your sight.  Be the One who is always in front of and beside me.

Lord Jesus, people press in on You constantly.  I am one of them.  Help me to understand the balance I need and learn from You.  Yes, Jesus, I fall at Your feet and worship, for You are the author and finisher of my faith.  Guide me on the narrow path You have set before me.  Nothing escapes Your notice and You have shown me time and again the abundance of Your grace and mercy.  Lead me in the truth of Your life.  Amen.

“And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.  All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man” (Mark 7:20-23).

Who knows the thoughts that really go on inside another?  We may show one thing while thinking another.  The Lord knows that we have these sin issues, and He has come to lead us in dying to sin, death, and the devil.  Wickedness is on the inside, for we think on these things which lead to our actions.  Jesus is speaking the truth and calls us out of ourselves to follow Him.

Lord, only You know the level of corruption that is in our hearts.  You have come to save us by giving us a new and clean heart.  You know the things that are hidden in our minds.  Help the faithful so that we do not hold these things in, but one, reject them, and two, protect ourselves from letting them come back in.  Lord, save us from the insanity of this world which is constantly hitting us with these very things and calling them good.

Lord Jesus, You have come so that I may have true life and have it abundantly.  Guide me in my thought-life to be guarded against all of the evil that is in this world.  Forgive me and lead me in repentance in order that I may have a new heart which does not harbor wickedness but rejoices for Your goodness and mercy all the days of my life.  Lead me, O Lord, so that I may learn from You how to live a life of faith and love.  Amen. 

“Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean)” (Mark 7:18b-19).

This physical world may pollute our bodies, but unless the pollution that comes in is received by our spirit, it cannot destroy us.  Though we die, yet shall we live.  There is plenty of pollution in this world; but be on guard for your soul so that you look to the Lord and seek His will in all things.  He has promised to lead those who believe in the way of everlasting life.  He will lead those who trust Him.

Lord, You know where the pollution is in my soul.  I have taken in things that need to be removed.  I have adopted ideas and attitudes that are contrary to what You have established from the beginning.  Guide me to come out of those places to seek what is right and fitting.  Grow in me Your righteousness so that I may become ever more like You in the life You have given me here and now.

Thank You Jesus or not settling for just polishing the outside of me but working on the whole of me so that I may become a child of the Heavenly Father.  Maintain the grace You have given me and confront those places of pollution that are within me.  Do the surgery You need to do to remove the cancer that is in my soul.  I know this body will one day fail, but in Your promise, bring my soul to purity for Your sake.  Amen.

“When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable.  And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also?” (Mark 7:17-18a)

How often do we inwardly refuse to listen to the simple words of Jesus?  I find in myself an inclination to wishful thinking rather than accepting what is real and true.  That pollution needs to be taken out of me.  Things are as the Lord made them to be.  Our wishful thinking sometimes gets in the way.  To understand what the Lord says is to accept what is real and true.  The Lord grants wisdom to those who will take in what He gives us.

Lord, help me to receive all that You will give.  Guide me to learn from You and gain wisdom.  There are things I do not like; but You are the way, truth, and life.  Help me when things I want to believe get in the way so that I may come to understand.  Lead me according to Your goodness and mercy so that I grow in the way You will grow me in the reality You have revealed through Your grace.

Lord Jesus, You know that even though I think I understand, I still need Your salvation.  Help me so that I do not stop with my understanding but step out in faith and receive the wisdom You will give me.  Guide me according to Your goodness and mercy to come into the understanding You grant by the power of Your Holy Spirit.  Lead me each step so that in faith I will trust You in and through all things.  Amen.

“After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 7:14-16).

The sin in the world is not what defiles us.  Taking the sin within is what defiles us.  This body was born in a world that is perishing.  We will have a new body.  What then?  Focus upon what is good for the body and soul.  Continue to grow in your character and live into the life for which You have been redeemed.  How often do we focus on right behavior outwardly when who we are inwardly is what Christ will create in us by grace.

Lord, I have taken many things in.  Protect me so that what comes in that would lead me away from You is rejected that I may continue along the path of Your salvation.  Guide me in Your goodness and mercy to receive what You give and watch as it grows in me what You desire.  Help me to not become a pharisee where I worry about outward appearance but make me whole from the inside out.

Lead me Lord Jesus in the way You know I need to go.  Guide me in Your goodness to understand that You have come to save me from the inside out and prepare me to dwell with You eternally.  According to the Father’s will, help me to not react only to all the things that are going on around me, but live according to the word You give me.  Aid me so that I look to You as the One who will keep me from evil.  Amen.