Praying With Faith

 

 

 

 

 Matthew 15:21-28

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

 

²¹ Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²² 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.”

²³ Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

²⁵ The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

²⁶ He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

²⁷ “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

²⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

Jesus commends this pleading mother for her faith; our tendency, like that of the disciples, might have been to send her away. We learn the power of persistence in prayer as well as the kindness of Jesus. In this scene, he's in no hurry to heal this young woman, but neither can he easily dismiss her mother. She believes he can cure her daughter and will not leave until he does.  Her faith is the key; it prevails and the daughter is cured.  Do we have this faith, this persistence or do we give up when our request is not answered the first time we ask?  Let us spend time reviewing the way we pray and present our needs to Jesus, as well as looking at the depth or shallowness of our faith.

Bro. Rene

Dear Jesus, increase my faith and help me to believe that you can and will grant my requests. Amen.