ICS Daily Devotions
Faith Must Be Accompanied by Persistence
Matt 15 V22-23,25-27 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”23 But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.” 25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”26 But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”27 And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
Jesus wasn’t being unloving towards the Canaanite woman, because during those times, the Jewish community did call the Gentiles a derogatory name “dogs”, but the Canaanite woman had faith that Jesus’ love and compassion towards people would heal her daughter. She was much focused towards what she came to seek Jesus for and would not be bothered by what other people thought. You’d find that Jesus did not answer her request immediately. Despite that, she was determined to have the healing request answered for her daughter!
Similarly, if you can recall, the woman with the issue of blood had the determination of pressing in through the crowd to touch Jesus. She was considered unclean yet she came looking for Jesus. She wasn’t concerned about how the religious people would treat her. They both had this dogged determination to receive what they came to get instead of being bothered by what others would think or say!
Imagine you were in a service and the pastor had a word of knowledge and it happened that you had that problem which he mentioned, would you be concerned about what the church people would think or would you have the dogged determination to receive what you need from God through His servant?
We need to learn not to be concerned about what others will think of us when we come out for prayer. We need to know God as our loving Heavenly Father who wants to bless and minister to the needs of His children through the servants that He has chosen as a channel of blessing or for you to personally come before Him to ask for whatever you need.
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Sermon Series: No More Crumbs but Eat at The Table with the King
