Today's Scripture Reading: "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 suffering terribly from demon-possession." [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 their dogs." [27] "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." [28] Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour." Matthew 15: 21-28 (NIV)
Why doesn’t God answer our prayer when we pray? We KNOW that He has the power and the means to handle our situation. I understand why when we are guilty of asking for things that are not of His will for our lives but what I’m talking about is asking for those things in accordance to his will. In my own experience there have been legitimate request that would only lead to a deeper understanding or work for His kingdom and He says, “No!” Has God ever told you “No” after He has told you “Yes!” Samuel Rutherford says “It is faith’s work to claim and challenge lovingkindness out of all the roughest strokes of God.”
This bothered me for a long time…I knew God had given us clear direction to build. We where having week-in and week-out standing room only crowds. God had given us a master plan to transition the ministry to the next level [matching building with ministry] and four months before our projected completion date the contractor walks off the project. After a series of meeting desiring to be transparent and accountable to both the leadership and membership as would be expected the enemy began to invade what has typically been a very stress free project. I’ve questioned God many, many times about this and this text spoke to me. We often see God only as a compassionate, caring and loving God but at a limited basic. So, for God to tell us “no” seems unreasonable…in the case of this Canaanite woman when Jesus responded to her request He did so not to destroy her faith but to develop her faith.
Listen to the discourse between this Canaanite woman and Jesus:
A Canaanite woman cried out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession."
Jesus answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
The Canaanite woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!"
Jesus replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
The Canaanite woman said, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
It is her patience, persistence and plea that moved the very heart of Jesus. Jesus wasn’t playing games with her, nor was He trying to make the situation more difficult but He was simply drawing out of her a growing response of faith.
It was that relentless pursuit of what only Jesus could do that this woman wanted and it was this faith that Jesus acknowledged and immediately He healed her daughter.
God is trying to pull out of us what He knows is in us. Whatever it is that God said don’t give up because it seems like God’s not cooperating…He maybe doing more than you think. He loves you too much not to take advantage of every situation to help you to grow closer to Him. Without faith it is impossible to please Him.
This bothered me for a long time…I knew God had given us clear direction to build. We where having week-in and week-out standing room only crowds. God had given us a master plan to transition the ministry to the next level [matching building with ministry] and four months before our projected completion date the contractor walks off the project. After a series of meeting desiring to be transparent and accountable to both the leadership and membership as would be expected the enemy began to invade what has typically been a very stress free project. I’ve questioned God many, many times about this and this text spoke to me. We often see God only as a compassionate, caring and loving God but at a limited basic. So, for God to tell us “no” seems unreasonable…in the case of this Canaanite woman when Jesus responded to her request He did so not to destroy her faith but to develop her faith.
Listen to the discourse between this Canaanite woman and Jesus:
A Canaanite woman cried out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession."
Jesus answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
The Canaanite woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!"
Jesus replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
The Canaanite woman said, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
It is her patience, persistence and plea that moved the very heart of Jesus. Jesus wasn’t playing games with her, nor was He trying to make the situation more difficult but He was simply drawing out of her a growing response of faith.
It was that relentless pursuit of what only Jesus could do that this woman wanted and it was this faith that Jesus acknowledged and immediately He healed her daughter.
God is trying to pull out of us what He knows is in us. Whatever it is that God said don’t give up because it seems like God’s not cooperating…He maybe doing more than you think. He loves you too much not to take advantage of every situation to help you to grow closer to Him. Without faith it is impossible to please Him.
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