Persistence in Prayer

Gospel Reflection for August 7, 2024

Icon Of Christ Healing

In today’s Gospel, a woman approaches Our Lord to beg for healing for her daughter who is being tormented by a demon. Initially, since she is a Canaanite woman, the disciples seek to push her away and ask that the Lord send her away. Even Jesus responds to her request in a seemingly dismissive way:

“He said to her in reply, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’” Matthew 15:24.

With this response, the woman could have simply left and sought help elsewhere. It is true that Christ came first to the people of Israel and second to the Gentiles. Hearing this, the woman could have moved on. Instead, she persisted in her request:

“But the woman came and did Him homage, saying, ‘Lord, help me.” Matthew 15:25.

She kneels before Him and gives Him due worship and He, again, rebukes her:

“It is not right to take the food of children and throw it to the dogs.” Matthew 15:26.

Yet again, she is refused by Our Lord. At this, we could understand her getting angry at Our Lord. How many times have we asked for something, and we are seemingly refused it by God? It is so easy to experience that refusal and to go away angry. But this woman, desperate for her daughter to be healed begs yet again:

“She said, Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.’” Matthew 15:27.

This unnamed, Canaanite woman teaches all of us the meaning of persistence in prayer. She continues to return to Him who she knows can heal her daughter. Her faith is so great that she will endure refusal after refusal and rebuke after rebuke. On our side of things, this is what we experience when our prayers seemingly go unanswered.

But, on the side of God, it is not necessarily that He is simply refusing and rebuking. Many times, God desires us to keep returning to Him in prayer. It is not that He wants to refuse us but that He desires that we persevere in prayer despite the seeming refusals and rebukes. Our Lord demonstrates this with His reply to the woman:

“The Jesus said to her in reply, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.” Matthew 15:28.

We have to remember, as the Eternal Son, Our Lord knew this woman’s faith before she ever approached Him. He, as the unchanging God, did not change His mind and decided to heal her daughter when previously He was not going to. This is an important reality when discussing prayer. Our prayers do not have the power to change the mind of God. That is not their purpose. Just like with this woman, Christ was already going to heal the daughter as long as she persisted in prayer. This persistence gave the woman the opportunity to display the faith that burned inside of her. It is then, that Christ grants her request.

Our prayer lives are the same. We do not petition God with the hope that He will change His mind and grant us something that He wasn’t originally going to. That is false hope. Truthfully, our prayers do not move God in the way that we think. Instead, prayer is meant to move us. It does not bend God to our will but, instead, conforms us to His will. Prayer is meant to show God that we are seeking to do His will in order to be given what we are asking for.

This is the example that the Canaanite woman shows us. She responds in faith to Christ desiring to give her the deepest desires of her heart. Her conforming herself to God’s will makes it possible for Him to give her what she is requesting. We must do the same.