Focus: Get A Word From God! (Pt.1)

Text: Mt.15:23

"But he answered her not a word."

A woman came to Christ and solicited Him for His intervention. She came praising and adoring Him, and then making her request. But we are told that the Lord Jesus Christ answered her not a word. No word came, but she went on and pleaded persistently for His mercy. Then her feisty faith paid off, for we read, "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" (Mt.15:28). 

At first Christ answered her not a word, but at last, Christ responded to her. The word finally came to her, and it came because of her faith. Christ saw her great faith and gave her a word, and it was exactly the word that she needed desperately. Christ attends or responds to our faith. That word from the lips of Christ was a needed word for her. It ended her tale of woes and set her daughter free from a chronic bondage.

Why do we need a word from God?

We need a word from God because His word is powerful. The author of Hebrews says, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful…" (Heb.4:12). Every word God speaks is lively and powerful. Luke tells us, "And it came to pass, that, as the people PRESSED upon him to hear the word of God…" (Lk.5:1). The Jews pressed to hear the word because His words are full of power. The Roman Centurion said to Christ, "Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed" (Mt.8:8). The word alone heals, not God's word plus something else. 

Matthew tells that Christ did "cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick" (Mt.8:16). With His word Christ put evil forces in their place. With His word He routed and ousted them. Luke tells us that "his word was with power," and the people exclaimed, "What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out" (Lk.4:32,36). The psalmist says, "He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions" (Ps.107:20). Luke declares, "So mightily grew the word of God and PREVAILED" (Act.19:20).

The word heals. The word delivers. The word works. The word creates and cures. The word destabilizes the devil and free men from his control. The word prevails. The word sanctifies, purifies and sanitizes. The word is energetic and operative. God rules by His word. God makes things happen by His word. Even the universe is sustained or upheld by the word of His power. His words and His works are forever connected. That is why we must get a word from God. The Canaanite woman made sure that she got a word from Christ. By the word our worlds are framed. So get a word from God into your spirit, soul and body. Let your whole being be saturated with the word of God. Amen!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter