The Collect
ALMIGHTY God, who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves; Keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle (1 Thessalonians iv. 1)
WE beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
The Gospel (St. Matthew xv. 21)
JESUS went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 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. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. 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.
Lent II - Message in a Minute
The characteristic of prayer that Jesus praises the most is persistence -- keeping at it until you get an answer -- nagging God. Jesus tells two parables that make that point, the one about the judge who gives a woman what she wants just to keep her from coming around and bothering him any more; and the one about the man who goes to his next door neighbour to borrow bread in the middle of the night. The neighbour gives him the bread to get rid of him.
The Canaanite woman is a perfect example of this sort of persistence.
Persistence is why the church prays twice a day. Persistence is why we offer the same prayers for the same people week after week. Persistence keeps us asking for forgiveness after we confess the same old sins over and over again. The Canaanite woman nagged until she got an answer. We need to learn to pray as she prays.
Part of what makes her persist is that she has confidence that Jesus can and will do what she asks him to do. That is what faith means in this context. It is not that she gets what she wants as a reward for her confidence. Her confidence opens her up, and makes her receptive to whatever Jesus will do for her. She trusts him. We should trust him too.
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