Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.’” (Matthew 15:21f)
A mother pleading for help for her daughter (Matthew 15:21-28) and a father pleading for help for his son (Matthew 17:14-21), both children crushed by demonic evil; Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52) and two other men (Matthew 20:29-34) dominated by physical disability; a tax collector overwhelmed with deep conviction (Luke 18:9-14); and the psalmist David repeatedly wracked by guilt (Psalms 4:1; 9:13; 41:4,10; 51:1; 57:1; 86:3,16). All with one desperate prayer in common: “Lord, have mercy!” And all met with abundant mercy. However great the burden, however powerful the problem, however deep the torment, however often the prayer, there is always abundant mercy for those who crave it.