Great is your Faith

Saturday, December 27, 2014
Matthew 15:21-31 KJV 

21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, [thou] Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast [it] to dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great [is] thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. 29 And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. 30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them [those that were] lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them: 31 Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) Where did Jesus go to? (v.21)
2) What did the woman say to the Lord? (v.22)
3) How did the Lord and His disciples respond to the woman? (v.23-24)
4) How did the woman respond to the Lord? (v.25)
5) What did the Lord say to the woman? (v.26)
6) What did the woman say in response? (v.27)
7) What did Jesus say to the woman? (v.28)
8) What happened next? (v. 29-31)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
9) Has the Lord ever seemingly refused to answer your prayer requests, only to grant them later? If so, what happened during one such instance?
10) How do you typically respond when the Lord does not answer your petitions immediately? Why?

LIFE LESSONS
11) The best response to unanswered prayer is continued prayer.
12) Faith in God's Word and Person are the keys to effectial prayer.