Wednesday 4 Aug 2021

August 4: Matthew 15:21-28
 
Key Verse: Matthew 15:28
Then Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.’ And her daughter was healed at that moment.
 
Devotion:
Do you ever feel like an outsider where you don’t belong to a church or you don’t go to one? Well Jesus was reaching out to the Jews at this time when a Canaanite woman approached Him begging for healing for her daughter. Jesus was quite plain in ignoring her initially and then basically telling her she was not a Jew so would not get answered. But her persistence and faith carried her plea forward.
 
This send out a very special message to all of us – though we may not be part of the chosen people or a big church or whatever, we can still rely on God to answer our prayers. This woman admitted she was not a Jew but she still fully believed in Jesus being the Son of God; she believed He could heal her daughter without a second thought. That faith lifted her daughter up to be healed at that moment!
 
I used to be worried my prayers would not be answered because I was not in church or I had done something wrong; this act by Christ shows us He listens to us all, not matter what sex, race, creed, location or even our pasts! This is a personal thing between you and Christ. This is a very personal relationship in which He looks into your heart alone.
 
No matter how much you think a big church is being blessed because of all the healing and things which are happening in it, we can still be equally blessed by believing Jesus can do things for us too. They may get all the visible blessings because they talk about it, but He still hands out hidden blessing for those who take their faith to Him in private.
 
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel left out of a church?
 
Do you have faith Christ will answer your prayers?