One aspect of Christian life that people also often misunderstand is prayer. People often don’t realize that prayer is having contact with God or encountering the presence of the divine. Genuine prayer is about conversation. Conversation implies that we are involved in a dialogue with God, a point most people neglect in prayer. We are usually quite good at telling God what we need or what we want, but we fail to allow Him to respond and mostly fail to listen to Him. Conversation with God means active communication, which is never easy because it requires a real effort. Genuine prayer also requires humility. We must come to prayer with a humble heart, acknowledging that we need God and that without Him, we can do nothing. Otherwise, we risk falling into the trap of using God when we want Him and ignoring Him when we don't. That kind of prayer is not only immature but also cheap.
In today’s Gospel, we hear Matthew’s account of Jesus’s healing of the Canaanite woman’s daughter. Matthew’s account of Jesus and the Canaanite woman is quite elaborate in describing prayer as a conversation and dialogue. Three times the woman addresses Jesus, and three times Jesus responds, once to the disciples and twice to the woman. Matthew turns the whole incident into prayer as a conversation and dialogue between Jesus and the woman. The bottom line is that the Canaanite woman shows us that praying requires real effort: letting Jesus respond to her petition, then listening to Jesus and offering her counterargument. The story of the Canaanite woman is also an excellent example of how she comes to Jesus with great humility in her prayer. First, she says, “Have mercy on me.” This statement is a sign of humility because she begged out of confidence in the mercy of God. Secondly, she confesses the divine nature in Jesus as she calls Jesus “Lord, Son of David.” Third, she said, “My daughter is grievously ill and troubled by a devil.” Fourth, she showed her humility when the disciples of Jesus wanted to send her away. Although the disciples pushed her away, she trusted Jesus, adored her, and responded, “Lord, help me.” By doing this, she acknowledges Jesus as God, and she needs help from the Lord.