Friday 24 August, 2018

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.

This passage is about ‘great faith’ and answered prayers.

Some people think faith is like a genie’s magic lamp, rub it the right way and you get whatever you want. This is not good. The faith that sees answered prayers is not procedural, it is relational.

In the case of this women she believed in the supernatural healing power of God, she believed Jesus was endowed with this power. She believed in the goodness of God, she believed in Jesus’s compassion for those in need, and when her faith was tested she did not give up. She fought for her daughters’ healing and in so doing demonstrated great faith.

I highly suspect her response to Jesus’s initial refusal to listen was divinely inspired and this showed Jesus that God had endorsed her prayer request.

I wonder? if God is please by faith (Heb 11:6) is God extremely pleased by ‘great faith’. I don’t know the answer, but I know faith will be tested and ‘great faith’ will most likely be tested greatly.

So, take the opportunity today to think about how your faith has been tested recently. It might be a big challenge, or it might be a small challenge, but have you responded to the ‘test of faith’ with perseverance. If you want answered prayers you may have to fight like a mother does for a child.

Lord, teach us to persevere when our faith is tested that we may see the blessing of answered prayers.

Amen!

Written by David Newton