Let me make the Point. A must read please.

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Let me make the Point.

Matthew 15: 21-23.

Behold a woman who understood F=PW2.

 

This woman had no husband by her side and had a terribly suffering child at home with no ordinary sickness but demon possession comes to Jesus. She comes to Jesus in a childlike manner catapulted by Faith, which is taking Jesus at His word crying out “Lord, son of David, have mercy on me!”

 

Notice from the beginning, the suffering person was not her but her demon-possessed child. But she is asking mercy for herself. Even though the child is the beneficiary of the miracle of healing, the star of the story is the woman who loves her child so much that is in need of mercy. Loving parents suffer twice as much for their children and themselves when they are unable to do anything for their children. 

 

It is not the sins of the child or the sins of the mother that causes this incident to happen. It is the Glory of God who delivers the real story and the faith of the woman who goes to Jesus in search of agreement of Jesus with her prayer of crying out, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!”

 

Faith, seeks agreement with God through prayer. Faith is equal to Prayer, F=P. Faith and Prayer are one and the same. 

 

You cannot believe and pray. 

You believe in order to pray. 

Prayer without faith is useless.

 

True faith and prayer always seeks the ever-prevailing will of God by coming into alignment with God according to the Word of God. F=PW2.

 

The alignment with God leads to Oneness with God to the point that Jesus did not need to go to the child but grants the woman the Power to heal her child by her “Great Faith” and Prayer of agreement with Jesus.

 

Notice that Jesus is testing the faith of the woman by ignoring her at first and later stating that his priorities were with the lost sheep of Israel according to the will of God, who sent him to seek and to save.

 

Notice also, the selfish act of the disciples is clear with the individuals as well as with the crowds at the feeding of the five thousand. Their advice to Jesus was to send the crowds away. In the same way they urged Jesus to “send the woman away because she keeps crying out after us”. “Poor little things”, they had only one nerve standing and that woman was sitting on it. 

 

The woman knew how offensive the disciples of Jesus found her faith and prayers. But for faith to be the victory that overcomes the world is has to be relentless. The woman decides to “go nuclear” by falling on her knees in front of Jesus as if saying: “give me healing or pass over my dead body. I would rather die than to live without your help. “Lord, help me!” 

 

Jesus further put her faith and prayers to the test by saying, “the will of my Father who sent me is only for the children of Israel and you are just like a Canaanite dog. It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dog.”

 

Others would have stepped aside and let Jesus p[ass by, but not this woman of Faith and Prayers. She agrees with the will of God and Jesus, but appeals for Mercy. “Yes, Lord,” ( I agree with you) she said “but even the dogs eat from the crumbs that fall from their Master’s table.” 

 

Prayer is the art of learning to say “Yes” to God in such a way that God cannot ignore the genuine in you. There is no prayer worth God’s ears but to say “Yes” to the will of God as revealed in scripture. 

 

The heart of the Great Commission is to make disciples in order to teach them to obey. That is to say “Yes” to God. This will be impossible unless F=PW2. By faith we come to agree with God and his will as clearly revealed in the word of God. 

 

To those who like this woman come to Jesus according to F=PW2, the Lord welcomes them into alignment with him that leads to oneness where all things are yes and grants their request. 

“Your request is granted!” Your faith is great. You passed! “And the daughter was healed from that very hour”. 

 

For the purposes of our point, I want you to notice that Jesus credits the F=PW2 of the woman and not to himself. Let us not wait until Jesus says to us, “how long do I have to put up with you? Are you still dull? Why do you call me Lord, Lord and not do my commandments? These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

 

Come to Jesus and say, “Yes” Lord. The Canaanite woman with no name understood F=PW2. She was the “unknown” soldier of Jesus.

 

Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, Doug Coe and Gerry G. were two peas from the same pod in their generation. The first blessed the second and their spirit rested on the second.

 

Gerry Gutierrez.

 

PS. After thirty years of walking together my Mentor Doug Coe blessed me at the Cedars as Elijah blessed Elisha. That was the last time I saw him. He said to me “Stop making excuses Gerry and write your book on Prayer.” The picture below is in memory of our last meeting. Someone has decreased and the other increased through time. The First picture in in the Andes Mountains of Peru, the other is in Washington DC at the Cedars.