The cost of purified worship
Posted on: September 29, 2013
THE COST OF PURIFIED WORSHIP: As I was
reading and studying Matthew 15:21-28, the Lord
revealed this to me about the Canaanite woman. In
Matthew 15:21, 22, the woman needed a miraculous
healing from the Lord but her approach was one of
religiosity which is something that the Lord NEVER responds to. This woman approached Jesus with
words and phrases she had learned from the Jews,
“Have mercy on me Sond of David.” This woman had
heard about the Messiah that would come and heal
the lame and the blind so she searches for the
appropriate way to address him which is what some of us often do even unto this day. We look for the right
words and the right scriptures that are applicable to
what we desperately stand in need of, in hopes of
getting the RIGHT RESPONSE from the Lord. But, Matthew 15:23 says, “But he answered her not a
word.” “What?” “Are you serious Jesus?” “I done
came to you with with scripture and big words to woo
You and You have the gall to not respond to me?” You would think that as compassionate as Jesus is,
surely He would respond quickly to a mother crying
helplessly over her child. Why didn’t He respond? Matt 15:23 “And his disciples came and besought
him, saying, send her away; for she crieth after us.” This woman’s tears were affecting the disciples and
they didn’t like it. As Christians, sometimes we can
be so preoccupied with building a ministry that we
miss the needs of the people that are right in front of
us. Matt 15:24, “But he answered and said, I am not sent
but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” This woman was a Canaanite- an enemy of Israel.
She was a woman- in a time when women were held
in low esteem. Even the disciples had no real regard
for her or her desperate need and they were disciples!
But what I love about this woman is that she did not
give a rats tail who didn’t like her, who was around her or what people said about her, she was a desperate
woman willing to take desperate measures to get what
she wanted from the Lord. And what was even greater
than that, Jesus knew she wouldn’t give up because
He is One that knows ALL things, from the beginning
to the end. What God showed me was that Jesus was drawing from this woman an understanding from her
that would change the course of history for her and for
her but for all generations to come. Watch what
happens. Matt 15:25, “Then came she and WORSHIPPED him,
saying, Lord help me.” THERE IT IS GUYS! She did not get the response
she was looking for so, she came to herself, realized
that she needed to get low and begin to worship the
ONE who had everything she needed. At that point,
she neglected what she had been taught and the
language she heard from the religious folk, she released the LANGUAGE OF PURIFIED WORSHIP!
In other words, instead of her sounding real deep, she
simply bowed down and said, “Lord, save me” and the
miraculous was released! Sometimes when we pray, we come to believe that
God responds well to proper wording or long drawn out
prayers. This woman had the same thought process
in the beginning. Until she threw away the religiosity
and came to a place of brokenness and openness to
worship Jesus, the miracle could not be released. The greek word for worship here is “proskuneo” meaning
“to turn and kiss”. When we kiss someone we are
attracted to, we don’t follow a formula, it needs to be
spontaneous and expressive, sincere and simple. The
same is true of purified worship. (2 Sam 6:12-14 is an
example of this) In our culture, they say “dress for success” but with God, we must UNDRESS,
disrobing in humility and spontaneity. David danced
before God in his underwear expressing his heart
creatively, energetically and sincerely. That is the
heart that God is seeking in this hour. Matt 15:26, “But he answered and said, It is not meet
to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.” When Jesus said this to the Canaanite woman, He
was referring to the children of Israel, the Jews. When
He was speaking of bread, He was referring to
Himself, the Bread of Life. When He spoke of the
dogs, using the Greek word for a pet dog, He was
referring to the Gentiles. In other words He was saying, I have come first for the Jews. Jesus words
do not contradict the truth that God’s message is for
all people (psalms 22:57, Isaiah 56:7) after all, when
Jesus said these words He was in Gentile
territory on a mission to Gentile people. Jesus was
simply telling the woman that Jews were to have the first opportunity to accept Him as the Messiah
because God wanted them to present the message of
salvation to the rest of the world (see Genesis 12:3). Matt 15:27, “Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs
eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” “I hear you” she says, “I understand you’re working
according to certain priorities.” This is what Jesus
was after all along, not to destroy her but to develop
her. Matt 15:28, Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you
have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her
daughter was healed from that very hour.
Ex Jezebel Ministry 
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