How often have you reasoned within yourself saying, “If only I didn’t have this one heavy burden in my life, then I would be truly happy?” Like the Psalmist, your heart’s cry is, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away and be at rest!” (Psalm 55:6). Perhaps you are now facing what seems to be the greatest crisis of your life, and you are wondering how you will find de­liverance. You long for that peace of God you once knew in former days.

If you, as a Christian, are worried about whether you will find relief in your present distress, let not your heart be troubled. For the Lord Jesus Christ has shown mercy to multitudes of oth­ers and He has reserved mercy for you as well. He is more desirous to help His people, than they are to ask good things of Him.

The Heidelberg Catechism Q46 asks, Why did Christ command us to address God thus: ‘Our Father’?

The answer is, To awaken in us at the very beginning of our prayer that child­like reverence for and trust in God, which are to be the ground of our prayer, namely, that God has become our Father through Christ, and will much less deny us what we ask of Him in faith than our parents refuse us earthly things.

Our Lord’s encouraging promise that He will answer prayer in Matthew 7:7-8 says, “Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” In other words, your heavy burden can be lifted by God’s grace in persistently asking, persistently seeking, and persistently knocking with a believing and pure heart. We know that our pleading to God does not merit our deliverance, but the Lord works through the means of importunity (per­sistence). The Lord would have us to be as Jacob when he wrestled with the An­gel of the LORD in prayer. The Angel of the LORD said to Jacob, “Let me go for the day breaketh,” Jacob responded by saying, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me” (Genesis 32:26). Beloved of God, you too must persistently knock at mercy’s door as you “cast all your care upon Jesus Christ for He careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

To encourage you to cast your heavi­ness of heart upon the Lord, please note the great mercy of our Lord, which He declared of Himself saying, “I am sent to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound” (Isaiah 61:1).

In our Scripture text, Matthew 15:21­ 28, our Lord illustrates His tender mer­cies to miserable sinners, when He is confronted by a Gentile woman who cried out to Him for mercy. The misery of this poor woman was very great. By her persistent knocking at mercy’s door, the woman’s pleas were graciously an­swered by the Lord Jesus Christ.

It was while our Lord was in the coasts of Tyre and Sidon that He met the Canaanite woman. The Jews were taught to keep themselves separate from the Gentile Canaanites, lest they be­come spiritually polluted. The cities of Tyre and Sidon were Gentile cities on the Mediterranean coast in the land of Phoenicia. It was in these Gentile cities that our Lord had the occasion to minis­ter to a poor, miserable Gentile woman.

It is not explicitly stated why “Je­sus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon” (15:21). It may be that Christ came in amongst the Canaanites to get free of the Pharisees, who were a menace to His ministry in Galilee. While in Galilee of Israel, the Pharisees came from Jerusalem to Gali­lee and were interfering with the minis­try of His disciples.

The Pharisees faulted the disciples of Christ for not washing their hands af­ter the ceremonial washings of the Jews. Though the Pharisees would travel to Galilee of the Jews, they would not fol­low Christ amongst the Canaanites, because the Canaanites were spiritually defiled. We learn in Mark 7:24, that Je­sus in coming into Canaan, “arose and went into a house, and would have no man know it; but He could not be hid.” Jesus did not want His coming into Ca­naan to be public knowledge.

While in Canaan a Gentile woman, when hearing about Jesus coming into the area where she lived, sought the Lord. Matthew 15:22 says, “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.”

The Canaanite woman’s misery was two-fold. The first ground of her misery was that she was a Gentile. A woman of Canaan by birth, and in the eyes of a Jew, she was no better than a dog. She was of the stock of people that were cursed above all peoples. It is said of her nation in Genesis 9:25, “Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.” She was “an alien from the commonwealth of Israel and a stranger from the covenants of promises having no hope, and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12).

The second ground of the Canaanite woman’s misery was that her daughter was possessed of a devil. Day after day she had to live with the misery of seeing her daughter in great torment. She said in verse 22, “O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil” (lit., “she is badly demonized”).

Her great misery drew her to Christ for mercy from God. Her cry was very intense, she literally cried with loud shouting. It is apparent her cry was from a heart of trust in the divinity of Christ for she called Him “Lord.” She believed Christ to be the true promised Son of David for she called him the “Son of Da­vid.”

Although her calling upon Christ was for her daughter, it was a personal cry as though it was for herself. “Have mercy on me,” was her plea to Christ. Added to all her misery concerning her daughter’s condition were some disappointing con­siderations as she made her intercession for her daughter. Our Lord in verse 23, “answered her not a word, and His dis­ciples came and besought Him, saying, ‘Send her away; for she crieth after us.’”

The woman of Canaan handled her great discouragements in coming to Christ with an unwavering persistence. She knocked at mercy’s door until she was unburdened of her grievous misery. How often are you under the heavy load of discouragement, and are kept from persisting in prayer as you should? We must never cease praying because of dis­couragement. Rather, that is the time when we need to be persistent in prayer. Doesn’t Scripture warn us that we have not the things we desire of God because we ask not? We must take our colossal needs to Christ, as Jacob did, and say, “I will not let Thee go, except thou bless me” (Genesis 32:26).

Although the woman cried to Jesus in verse 23, “He answered her not a word.” He gave no immediate verbal response to her urgent request. It is very hum­bling to call to someone, and they do not answer. Christian, have you prayed and your prayers seemed not to reach the throne of grace? Don’t stop praying when discouraged, because others have felt the same way. Job 23:8-9 says, “Be­hold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hi­deth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him.” David in Psalm 28:1 says, “Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.” You must remember that God may not always answer prayer when you first pray.

The Canaanite woman did not turn back from pleading for mercy because she was a Gentile. She did not give up when the disciples said, “Send her away; for she crieth after us.” On the contrary, she cried out all the more unto the Lord. She cried out repeatedly, so that the dis­ciples wanted her to go away and stop making a spectacle of herself before the Lord. She prayed to Christ without ceasing! She would not leave off crying until the Lord answered her urgent re­quest.

Although our Lord told the woman very plainly in verse 24, “I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” yet she hoped in the mercy of the Lord. She would not cease crying for mercy from God until she received it. Clearly, the ministry of Jesus Christ was to the lost house of Israel. Romans 15:8 says, “Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the promises made unto the fathers.” So then, she could not lay any hope of her request based upon being of the Jewish nation. She must rest com­pletely upon the infinite mercy of God. No doubt her hope rested upon the con­templation, “Lord, Thou art merciful, be merciful to me.” So, she meekly cried out to Jesus, “Lord help me!” (v. 25).

After making her pitiful plea for mercy, she is humbled with these words from the Lord, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread and to give it to dogs” (v. 26). In the Old Covenant the Jews were the people of God. The Jews referred to all other nations as dogs. The Jews looked at Gentiles as dogs, because they were spiritually unclean. A dog was dou­bly unclean to a Jew, because it neither “parted the hoof” nor “chewed the cud.” The pig was more clean than a dog, be­cause a pig parted the hoof, but a dog had both the marks of an unclean ani­mal.

The meaning of our Lord’s analogy of not giving the children’s bread to dogs is to show the folly of taking a meal pre­pared for one’s precious children and feeding it to dogs. Spiritually, the bread speaks of the gospel of Jesus Christ by which we have eternal life. Although this woman is well aware of her misery, she must also learn to be humbled for her sins. By God’s grace she accepts her humiliation, and does not despair af­ter hearing the humbling words of our Lord. This women trusted that God is gracious, and she was willing to come to Christ as a miserable dog. She said it is true that the father should not give the children’s bread to dogs, “yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from the mas­ter’s table” (v. 27). In other words, she believed a crumb of God’s mercy was well able to unburden her of all her sins and misery and to heal her daughter.

Her faith would not allow her to take her focus off the mercy of Christ. It was faith that kept her meekly knocking at mercy’s door. Her faith in the Lord made her confident in the abundance of God’s mercy. Surely after the children are fed there are crumbs of mercy, as when the 5,000 people were fed by Christ and twelve baskets were left over. Oh Christian, never be downcast or won­der whether there is mercy reserved for you. Be assured there is hope of receiv­ing mercy in your darkest hour, for our God’s mercy is infinite and everlasting.

Beloved of God, the lesson that you and I must learn from this Canaanite woman is that persistence with a believ­ing heart always prevails at the throne of God’s grace. So keep asking, and it shall be given you. Keep seeking and ye shall find. Keep knocking and it shall be opened unto you.

The Canaanite woman’s urgent re­quest is granted after four denials, be­cause of her persistent reliance upon Christ’s mercy. “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” (v. 28). The mother is com­mended of the Lord for her great faith. What is great faith? It is faith that con­tinues knocking at mercy’s door until what is asked of God is received from the throne of grace.

Dear reader, do you have an ear to hear what the Spirit of God is saying to you in His Word? It is this: persistence in prayer prevails with God. If God gives His children’s crumbs to dogs, then what a great feast awaits you if you will believe His promises written in His Word.

Oh dear Christian, what will you do with that great burden you are bear­ing? You must without delay take that great burden and by faith cast it upon the Lord. Jesus Christ has promised, “Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name; that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” If you will persis­tently cry to God in faith “Lord, help me,” you will also have Jesus’ answer, “O dear Christian great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt” (v. 28).

The verses that follow the healing of the Canaanite woman’s daughter ought to encourage everyone of us to come to the Lord and knock at mercy’s door, be­cause of the many miracles that followed the healing of the Canaanite woman’s daughter. Though Jesus went into Ca­naan for a time, Matthew 15:29-30 says that,

Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. 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: 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.

These all came knocking on mercy’s door, and it was opened unto them. To all who by faith come meekly knocking at mercy’s door, it shall be opened unto them so that God may be glorified by His mercy, grace, and power.​