July 12, 2024
"Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour"
- Matthew 15:28
Faith is one of the key concepts we must understand as believers and should be able to deploy whenever the need for it arises. We are familiar with the definition of faith, according to Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. This definition, as well as the accounts of faith in Hebrews 11, detail the deeds, rewards, promises and testimonies of faith. While this passage of scripture inspires us with what was achieved and what is possible through faith, it does not lay out plainly how to apply faith.
The story of the Syrophoenician woman recorded in Matthew 15:21-28 presents an example of how to apply faith. The woman had an issue, her daughter was severely demon-possessed, and she sought respite. She had approached Jesus and even though He did not respond initially, the interaction that followed before she received her answer is instructive.
By bringing her daughter to Jesus in verse 22 of Mathew 15, she demonstrates that faith is making our problem God’s problem…transferring it to Him or inviting Him to come to deal with the matter. David in 1 Samuel 17:45 demonstrates this principle when he invited God into the problem that Goliath posed. Likewise, king Hezekiah spread the letter he had received before the Lord in 2 Kings 19:14 when he was threatened by the king of Assyria.
Another thing the Syrophoenician woman did was to continue calling on Jesus even after He had not answered (Verse 23a). From this, we learn that faith is the ability to continue calling unto God even when He has not answered. This means that we should continue praying until we receive an answer from God on a matter. Usually, two things happen when we continue in prayer to God. Either He responds as in the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8 or He tells us to stop praying like He told Moses in Exodus 14:15 and Deuteronomy 3:26.
The woman’s cry to Jesus must have been so loud and persistent that it irked the disciples of Jesus to the point that they asked Him to send her away (verse 23b). Faith in this woman’s behavior then, is the refusal to be silenced by anyone or anything. The more resistance or refusal we receive, the louder our cry and persistence. This is echoed by blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46-49, who, when many warned him to be quiet in verse 48, cried out even more “Son of David, have mercy on me”. Even God says in Isaiah 62:6-7 to give Him no rest until He has established the matter.
May God grant us the grace to apply these principles of faith in Jesus' name, Amen!
Song of Worship
I must tell Jesus – 2x
I cannot bear this burden alone
I must tell Jesus – 2x
Jesus can help me, Jesus alone
Prayer - Dear Lord, thank You for helping me understand the basics of faith. I receive grace to put into practice what I have learnt about applying faith in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Bible in 1 year: Psalms 4-6