134 days until the Greenock, Scotland Revival Conference

Then He turned to her with an apparently more positive rebuff, saying, “I was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” and she was not of the House of Israel. Then she worshipped Him and kept on calling to Him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And then came what almost appears like a cruel rebuff, when our Lord said, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs.”

The word that He used for “dogs” was a peculiar word that meant a little pet dog, and was not at all as harsh as it seems, although it was an apparent refusal to hear her prayer. But, as we shall see, our Lord was simply putting to the test her faith that she might get an even larger blessing. Then she said, “Yea, Lord: for even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.” She would not take “no” for an answer.

And then came one of the most wonderful words of commendation that ever fell from the lips of our Lord. This is the way Matthew puts it: “Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith, be it done unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was healed from that hour.” That sort of thing pleases God. He would have us have that faith in His loving kindness and in Himself that even when He seems not to hear will trust Him still to hear.

God does not always give us the things we ask the first time we ask them, but then we should not give up; no, we should keep on praying until we do get. We should not only pray, but we should PRAY THROUGH.

It is deeply significant that this parable to persist in prayer comes almost immediately after the request on the part of the disciples of our Lord, in which they say, “Lord, teach us to pray.” Then follows Luke’s version of the so-called “Lord’s Prayer,” really the disciples’ prayer, and then comes this parable. -R. A. Torrey


FREE EVENT TO ATTEND, PRE-REGISTER HERE: http://2008scotland.eventbrite.com/

_________________
SI Moderator - Greg Gordon