Overview

1. Your Father’s heart is to bless you
2. Jesus will go the distance to meet your need
3. Receive from the Bread of Life
4. Feed on Jesus in the Word
5. Give attention to God’s Word

Your Father’s heart is to bless you

Beloved, have you been going through some storms lately? Or have there been things in your past that have left you disappointed and heartbroken? Pastor Lawrence’s message encourages us to look ahead and not let our unhappy experiences determine what God can do for us in the future.

Our God is a good God, and He desires to see His children blessed and fruitful in every area of life. He is also a God of restoration. And when He restores, He restores much more—sometimes in quality and sometimes in quantity. 

This is why our Lord Jesus encourages us to keep asking:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
—Matthew 7:7 NKJV

Perhaps because you’ve faced disappointments, or maybe you’ve been waiting a long time, you’ve become hesitant to ask again. Beloved, take heart. Your heavenly Father loves you. He knows what you need, and His heart is to provide for you. He just wants you to come to Him, lean on Him, and ask of Him. 

Jesus Himself tells us that if earthly fathers know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more will our heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him (Matt. 7:9–11)?

And Luke 12:32 tells us, “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

Notice the Holy Spirit, through Luke, says it is “your Father’s good pleasure.” Your Father is not reluctant to bless you. It brings Him pleasure to give to you.

So whatever you may be believing Him for today, let hope arise in your heart again. Beloved, don’t allow disappointment to rob you of your faith and hope in what the Lord can do. Keep looking to Him and expecting to see His goodness in your life. And keep asking.

Jesus will go the distance to meet your need

But what if you’re facing a situation today that seems impossible? Maybe it concerns your health, your family, or someone you love, and you simply don’t know what to do.

In Matthew 15, we read about a woman who found herself in such a situation:

Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”
—Matthew 15:21–22 NKJV

This woman was a Gentile, and she was facing something she could not resolve on her own.

But before we look at what happened next, notice where this encounter took place. Jesus had traveled all the way from the Sea of Galilee to the region of Tyre and Sidon, a journey of about 40 miles (over 64 km), which would probably have taken Him more than a day of walking through hilly terrain. Yet He went all that way and met this woman at her point of need.

Beloved, the Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He will go the distance to meet you at your point of need, too.

Maybe you wonder if He sees what you are going through or if He cares about your situation. No matter how far away you may feel from Him, the Lord knows exactly where you are. He sees your need, and His heart is to come to you with His love and saving power.

Receive from the Bread of Life

Now, going back to the story of the Syrophoenician woman with the severely demon-possessed daughter. When she cried out to Jesus, she did not immediately receive the answer she sought.

In fact, the disciples urged the Lord to send her away. But the woman did not give up. There was a tenacity about her. No matter what anyone said, she continued looking to the Lord, believing that He would heal her daughter.

Then she encountered what appeared to be another closed door, this time from Jesus Himself.

He said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24). Now, perhaps you’re wondering why the Lord said that. In His first coming, our Lord’s main ministry was to the house of Israel. And because this woman was a Gentile, she was not in a position to receive what she was asking for.

Friend, perhaps you also know what it feels like to face a closed door. Maybe you’ve been believing for a breakthrough. You’ve prayed, but the situation doesn’t seem to be changing.

What do you do in times like these?

Look at the woman’s response. Instead of letting that seemingly closed door leave her discouraged, the Bible tells us:

Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”
—Matthew 15:25 NKJV

Even in the face of what appeared to be a rejection from the Lord, she continued to worship Him. Isn’t that so beautiful?

The Greek word translated “worshiped” here is proskyneō. It carries the idea of prostrating oneself in worship and can also mean “to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand.” 

There was a posture of humility and worship in the way this woman approached the Lord. She fell before Jesus and prayed three simple words: “Lord, help me.”

Friend, when you are facing something you cannot overcome, and it seems as though nothing is happening, come to Jesus and worship Him. You don’t need to have the right words or a long, eloquent prayer. Sometimes, just these three words, “Lord, help me,” are enough.

Now, notice what the Lord said to her next: “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs” (Matt. 15:26).

The phrase “little dogs” here is an endearing Greek word for little puppies. In essence, the Lord was saying that since the woman was a Gentile, considered “dogs” by the Jews, she did not qualify to partake of the children’s bread that was reserved for the house of Israel.

Yet the woman did not walk away. She remained at His feet and continued to believe in His goodness. She answered: “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table” (Matt. 15:27).

What faith! The woman did not dispute what Jesus had said. Instead, she held on to what she believed about His heart. She had such a good opinion of the Lord that she believed even what fell from His table was more than enough to meet her need.

And the Lord responded:

“O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.”
—Matthew 15:28 NKJV

And the woman’s daughter was healed from that very hour. 

What did Jesus call great faith? It was a faith that had a good opinion of Him, regardless of the circumstances.

Think about everything this woman had encountered: the disciples asking the Lord to send her away, and the Lord’s seeming rejection. Yet none of these things changed what she believed about Him. She continued to believe that He was good and that there was more than enough in Him to meet her need.

Beloved, remember always not to let your experiences define your opinion of God. Let His Word show you who He is. He is good. He loves you. He is able to heal, restore, and provide. And whatever you may be believing Him for today, there is no situation too difficult for Him. 

This Bible account is not only encouraging because of how the Lord traveled some 40 miles on foot to heal the woman’s daughter; it also contains an important revelation for present-day believers. The key is in the very place where this encounter took place.

In Genesis 49, when Jacob pronounced prophetic blessings over his sons, he said this concerning Asher:

“Bread from Asher shall be rich, and he shall yield royal dainties.”
—Genesis 49:20 NKJV

Later, when the tribes of Israel received their allotments of land, Asher was given territory in the region that included Tyre and Sidon—the very place where Jesus met this Syrophoenician woman.

Centuries earlier, Jacob had declared, “Bread from Asher shall be rich.” Then Jesus came to that very region and spoke about “the children’s bread.” And finally, what this woman described as a mere crumb from the Master’s table was enough to bring healing to her severely demon-possessed daughter.

Taken together, what do all these mean? That our Lord Jesus Himself is the Bread of Life, hence the bread is rich. So friend, when you have Jesus, you have more than enough for whatever need you may be facing.

Feed on Jesus in the Word

In John 6:35, Jesus declared that He is the bread of life. Now, what do we do with bread? We feed on it. So how do we feed on Jesus, the Bread of Life, today? 

John 1:1 tells us that our Lord Jesus Himself is the Word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

We feed on the Lord by seeing Him in the Scriptures—who He is, what He has accomplished for us at the cross, and all that we have in Him.

From beginning to end, everything in Scripture points us to our Lord Jesus. In the Old Testament, we see Him in types and shadows. In the New Testament, we see Him revealed. 

And as we feed on Him in the Word, we are receiving the nourishment our souls need. In Matthew 4:4, our Lord quoted Deuteronomy 8:3, saying, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

Then in John 6:63, He said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” This means that the more we feed on the Word, the more we will experience His life-giving power.

So avail yourself of God’s Word every day. Read the Scriptures. Listen to sermons that unveil Jesus and His finished work. Keep seeing Jesus and feeding on Him in the Word.

Give attention to God’s Word

In Proverbs 4, we see a beautiful picture of what can happen to us when we avail ourselves of God’s Word daily:

“My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.”
—Proverbs 4:20–22 NKJV

Notice the first thing the Lord says: “Give attention to my words.” There are so many things competing for our attention every day. Yet here, the Lord lovingly invites us to turn our ears and our eyes toward His Word—to incline our ears to His sayings, to keep His words before our eyes, and to let them take root in our hearts.

We live in a very noisy world. The moment we pick up our phones, an endless stream of news, opinions, and social media awaits us. Plus, if we are constantly doomscrolling and taking in one bad report after another, such content can begin to affect the way we see our circumstances.

To give attention to God’s Word, we might need to temporarily set our phones and devices aside and turn off the noise. Instead of continually looking at the bad reports around you, turn to look at Jesus in His Word, and let His promises shape the way you see your situation.

And the outcome? When we pay attention to His words, they become life to us and health to all our flesh!

In Psalm 1, we get another faith-building picture of what happens when we continually meditate on God’s Word:

He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
—Psalm 1:3 NKJV

Perhaps your circumstances don’t look good right now. Beloved, let God’s Word paint a fresh vision in your heart. See the Lord as your healer, your provider, your wisdom, and your help.

Whatever season you may be in today, keep your eyes on Jesus, our Bread of Life. Give His Word your attention and allow His words of spirit and life to nourish you. As you do, may you be like the tree described in Psalm 1, continually supplied, evergreen, and fruitful. Your leaf shall not wither, and whatever you do shall prosper!

We hope these sermon notes blessed you! If they did, we encourage you to get the sermon and allow the Lord to speak to you personally as you watch or listen to it.

© Copyright JosephPrince.com 2026
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.