The healing of the daughter of the Canaanite woman is a classic case on how to get prayers answered.
This woman of Canaan was a desperate mother whose daughter was grievously vexed with a devil. She must be at her wits end trying whatever means to deal with her daughter’s vexing trouble. It was no ordinary ailment where human intervention might bring solution to her vexing soul. It was an affliction that originated from a different dimension where human efforts are often found wanting and powerless in the face of such assault on the body, mind and soul of the tormented victims. Many were afflicted with such trouble in Israel and the religious elites could offer little help to the family members of the suffering victims.
But this woman of Canaan heard about Jesus and she had faith that the Lord could be the only solution to heal her pitiful daughter, God knows for how long had she been afflicted with the devil. So she approached the Lord during the Lord’s visit to her hometown.
Matthew 15:21: Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
Matthew 15:22: And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
Her approach was direct and she went straight to the point to plead for mercy, acknowledging Jesus as the Lord, the Son of David. All nationalistic pride was put aside, confirming the Lord Jesus Christ to be the King of the Jews, who would sit on the throne of David ruling over Israel. So this woman wasn’t an ignorant peasant unhappy with the Jews living in the former land of her forefathers and full of hatred for the Jews.
She cried and begged the Lord to have mercy on her and relating to the Lord her daughter’s condition. It wasn’t a small matter as her daughter was vexed with a devil badly in need of deliverance.
Matthew 15:23: But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
However, the Lord ignored her. The Lord was being kind to her by ignoring her. The Lord could have said nasty thing she might not want to hear. She was not one of their own people. So the Lord kept silent.
With the Lord ignoring her, this woman went after the disciples. She must be harassing the disciples to ask them to help speak with the Lord. The disciples’ lack of compassion was rather telling. Instead of helping her intercede with the Lord to heal her daughter, the disciples got frustrated and went to beseech the Lord to send her away.
They didn’t behave that way when the Jews were healed of devils but for this woman, not one of their own nationality, they could not care less. Such is the hardness of men still very much plagued with nationalistic divide over who should benefit from blessings of their Messiah. So the woman continued her pleading with whoever who would help say a word to the Lord to help her and heal her daughter and this got annoying, at least with the disciples.
Matthew 15:24: But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Finally, the Lord open His mouth. Those words weren’t what this woman hoped to hear. But the disciples were very likely pleased and perhaps even secretly applauded the Lord’s reply to the woman. They couldn’t wait to get this woman off their back and they still had much work to do and with many others to minister to. Every day was a busy day and this woman of Canaan was holding up their work.
Moreover, it was the Lord who commissioned them to minster to the Jews and they were expressly forbidden to reach out to the Gentiles. Now this Gentile woman showed up and this would be a good test to see if the Lord meant business. So far the Lord confirmed the mission was meant for the Jews only.
Matthew 10:5: These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
Matthew 10:6: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
The disciples were observing what the Lord would do with this woman, a non Jew coming to ask for help. Would the Lord practise double standards and violate His own admonishment for the disciples to avoid the Gentiles? The Lord’s reply confirmed their earlier commission. The Gentiles were to be bypassed. No doubt, the disciples might be glad and even pleased too.
So the door for this woman had been closed. She was an outsider outside of the commonwealth of Israel and could not enjoy the blessings meant for Israel. But she still didn’t give up knowing all avenues were closed and she had no other authority to appeal to in order to become a recipient of God’s blessing for His chosen people. She left the disciples and approached the Lord again since the Lord had opened His mouth to pronounce His rejection of her plea.
Matthew 15:25: Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
This time, this woman did more than just acknowledging the Lord as the Son of David. She came and worshipped Him. She even worshipped Jesus as the Lord God, above just the King of the Jews. In fact, the Lord is not just the God of the Jews but God of the Gentiles as well. This episode of healing was about timing and the Jews must be dealt with first.
Earlier, she called Jesus Lord and Son of David. She already knew her proper place. This time she upped the ante and she worshipped the Lord. Her priority was to get her daughter healed and she knew the Lord could and she was doing all she could to get that blessing and her prayers answered.
If you are using some false bibles, you will get your prayers hindered. The translators of these fake bibles didn’t believe this woman of Canaan worshipped the Lord Jesus Christ. They only believe she bowed down or knelt before the Lord. Bowing down and kneeling do not necessarily mean worship for many people in this world also bow and kneel before earthly kings but worship is only reserved for the Divine. So it is time to throw away these modern fake bibles in order to get your prayers answered.
Matthew 15:25New International Version (NIV)
The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
Matthew 15:25New American Standard Bible (NASB)
But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”
Matthew 15:25English Standard Version (ESV)
But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”
Matthew 15:25Amplified Bible (AMP)
But she came and began to kneel down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”
Matthew 15:26: But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.
Since the Lord had already opened His mouth and the woman had persistently not given up hope on getting the Lord to do something for her daughter, the Lord had no choice but to reveal the real truth to this poor woman who had already lowered herself to beg, cry, prostrate and worship the Lord.
The reply here was terrible. To add insult to injury, she was called a dog. This woman was already humiliated for being an outsider. Now she was called a dog.
What do you expect this woman to do? Crawl away barking like a dog and complain to everyone how heartless the Lord has been to her?
Anyone who is not sincere and just making use of the Lord to get prayers answered without truly believing in the Lord and becoming a follower of the Lord would be greatly offended. How often we see people who needed help would do anything to just get what they wanted and then they would turn their back to their benefactors once they achieved their objectives!
Such people would come to you just to get a blessing and then leave you when you are no longer useful. Such scheming people would no doubt get up and spit at you and walk away and blast you all over the Internet to show to the world how cruel you are and would demolish you because you didn’t accede to their demands.
But this woman of Canaan was a woman of faith, no doubt a sincere believer of the Lord Jesus Christ. She was already in trials and tribulation over her daughter’s plight, what more could be added to afflict her and for this instant, it came from none other than the Lord of the whole earth to test her faith and tenacity in prayers!
The disciples might be getting more irritated even though this woman had left them and went back to beg the Lord for help. Why didn’t this Gentile woman just get lost and leave them alone? Didn’t she know she wasn’t a qualified beneficiary and the Lord had also made clear to her!
But this woman’s reply stunned heaven and astounded the disciples as well wondering how much lower could she go in order to get the Lord to lift a finger to help her and heal her daughter.
Matthew 15:27: And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.
Such a reply was classic. When she was already put down and then called a dog, instead of being offended, she reasoned with the Lord. There was so much wisdom in her reply under tremendous stress and despair with everyone over there against her and no one spoke a word in her favour.
Her reply was spoken softly rather than yelling back at the Lord but those words struck a chord in containing the Lord’s reproach, cornered the Lord and stormed through the dark clouds of heaven and so the windows of heaven poured down blessings upon her that day.
It is truly not right to give food meant for the children and cast it to dogs. The biblical exhortation is always to take care of one’s family first and not the other way around.
1 Timothy 5:8: But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
How many times have we come across foolish Christians giving away their wealth to ministers of Satan promising them God’s blessings and prosperity and then their family suffer poverty while these ministers of Satan enrich themselves and live in luxury.
What the Lord told this woman earlier wasn’t being unkind but scriptural. It must always be taking care of family first before helping others. Putting outsiders first would cause the family to fall apart. How many ministers who put in so much effort in ministering to others and neglected their own family and then they wonder why they ended up in divorce or their children become rebels when they grow up!
Perhaps everyone over there that day expected this woman to throw in the towel feeling disgusted and walked away. The Lord had already used the most cruel words to put her down and this was generally the attitude of the Jews towards the Gentiles regarding them as unclean. Even the Samaritans they regarded as people having a devil and would not speak with them or have anything to do with them.
John 4:9: Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
John 8:48: Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?
Years later when Peter opened the gospel door to the Gentiles at Cornelius house in Acts chapter 10, he ran into trouble with the Jewish believers in Acts chapter 11 who confronted him. He had to explain himself with witnesses following him to Cornelius house to keep the peace of the believers in Israel.
But those words from the woman rang loud and clear though spoken softly hoping for the best. How would the disciples answer her having heard these words? What other excuse could the Lord throw at her with such a reasonable reply from her?
Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. What she said was true and an observable known fact! How else could anyone counter her argument?
The Lord told the disciples not to minister to the Gentiles and the Lord made Himself an example by not wanting to help this Gentile woman. But what this woman did and said that day changed the course of events following. None wag a tongue after hearing what she said and all mouth was stopped that moment.
Matthew 15:28: Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
The Lord’s reply was one of excitement and full of admiration for her great faith and thus granting her request and her daughter was made whole that very hour. The Lord is plenteous in mercies but worthy recipients are few and far between. The Lord is rich beyond imagination but those chosen to share His wealth are just remnants who accept Jesus as Messiah and Saviour of the world.
This woman was one such recipients of the Lord’s mercy and grace and of course riches beyond measure. That day, her posture was one from prostrate humility and kneeling on the ground in worship to another of rising in victory conquering all odds that were stacked against her. No one could possibly stand in her way from getting her prayers answered.
The disciples stood speechless as the Lord took the exception to grant healing to the daughter of this Gentile woman that was against the original commandment given to them to minister only to the Jews, the lost sheep of the house of Israel. No one complained and stood against her for the Lord’s double standards in dealing with this Gentile woman in this case. They heard with their very own ears what this woman said and her reasoning was one full of faith and humble gentle submission in responding to the King of the Jews why she should be one of the recipients of the Lord’s mercy and grace even though she was a Gentile dog.
This woman’s admission of her lowly status nationally speaking and her unflinching determination interceding with the Lord in wisdom and humility won her the Lord’s favour as well as everyone present with no one dared to disapprove of the Lord dispensing healing to her tormented daughter.
She became a living example of what the Lord proclaimed as a message to the desperate and despairing John the Baptist rotting in jail waiting for execution, and she was blessed indeed because she was not offended by the Lord and in what the Lord had told her earlier.
Matthew 11:6: And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
Seldom you will find the Lord excited and exclaiming a big fat O in responding to situation during His earthly ministry. Here is one such incident where the Lord exclaimed with a big O followed by praise for this woman’s great faith.
Just a chapter before this woman’s incident, the Lord also likewise exclaimed with a big fat O but this was in response to Peter’s lack of faith while walking on water towards the Lord.
Matthew 14:30: But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
Matthew 14:31: And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Matthew 15:25: Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
Matthew 15:28: Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
Putting these verses together is a rather embarrassing comparison. Both made short prayers and were answered. The Jewish apostle was rebuked for his little faith and doubts while this Gentile woman was commended for her great faith and for not giving an inch to every obstacles thrown in her way to prevent her from getting her prayers answered and her daughter healed.
Such is the Lord’s dealing with fallen man. Even chosen privileged people of God can fail in faith while those temporarily set aside Gentiles could gain access to the privileges conferred for God’s own people and become one such members of God’s amazing goodness to all fallen man. Now that the chosen nation of Israel has been set aside for two thousand years and the Gentile Church is temporarily grafted in to deal with the world at large to magnify the name of Jesus above every name, the day will soon dawn upon this world when the Church is removed and the nation of Israel is come into focus again in the Lord’s prophetic calendar.
In order to get your prayers answered, you need to know your place and come sincerely in humility in worship of the Lord who is worthy of all praises and adorations. If you trust those fake bibles without having to worship the Lord in praying to the Lord to hear your petition, you will be badly mistaken. You will need to justify with reasons why the Lord should grant you your request lest you ask for things to consume upon your own lust which is not according to God’s perfect will for you. On top of that, you need to have this unflinching faith in the Lord who is more than able and capable to grant you your request. The question is whether you are one such worthy recipient for God to honour that request you put before the court in heaven.
Hebrews 11:1: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:6: But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Faith is a prerequisite when approaching the Lord to petition your request. You must believe that He is God when you approach Him diligently like this Gentile woman. The Lord will then reward you according to your faith when you have pleased Him no matter how hopeless the situation might be.
Luke 11:9: And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Luke 11:10: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
May heaven smile upon you as you bring your petitions before the Lord in all humble submission full of faith and truth!
