Matthew 15:21 says, Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.  Matthew Henry says that Jesus went to the coasts in this area controlled by Israel, and not into the cities themselves.  Whatever His reason for going there, Jesus was going to encounter a woman in distress.  Verse twenty-two states, 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.  A woman of Canaan came crying out to Jesus.  She was not an Israelite, but she acknowledged Jesus as Lord and the Son of David.  She recognized Who Jesus was even more than the religious leaders of Israel did, and she had faith in His ability to help her.  It is not enough to simply acknowledge that Jesus may have been a real person, but we must acknowledge Him as the Messiah, the Savior of all who believe in Him for Him to change our lives.  Verse twenty-three states, But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.  Jesus did not answer the woman, which might seem cruel on His part, but I believe that He was simply using this as an opportunity to further teach His disciples about faith.  The disciples said send her away, basically because she was bothering them.  Hopefully, we do not send people away who are seeking Christ today simply because they are bothering us.  In verse twenty-four Jesus said, But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  Jesus's first concern was for the lost sheep of Israel.  I believe that had He been effective in reaching them, then they would have reached the world with the gospel, but they had already failed in their purpose of reaching out to others.  Verse twenty-five states, Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.  The woman would not be turned away.  She had faith in Jesus' ability to heal her daughter.  We need that same type faith today.  We should not allow anything to keep us from getting to Jesus with our problems.  In verse twenty-six Jesus says, But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.  This would have gotten Jesus in trouble today, most likely, because the statement is not politically correct.  Jesus referred to the people of Israel as children and Gentiles as dogs, which was what they were often called.  I believe that Jesus was attempting to see what her reaction, and the reaction of the disciples, would be.  Verse twenty-seven says, And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.  The woman did not become offended and berate Jesus or storm away in a huff.  She simply said that even dogs were allowed scraps from their master's table.  She knew that even scraps from Jesus, as it were, were enough to heal her daughter, and acknowledged that He was her Master.  We cannot afford to allow our pride to come between Jesus and us.  Verse twenty-eight declares, 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.  Jesus praised the woman for her faith, and He also healed her daughter.  Jesus did not just praise her faith and send her away.  He also granted her request.  If we want Jesus to answer our prayers today, we must first have faith that He can answer them.  Then, we must not allow anything to come between Jesus and us.  Finally, we must ask in accordance with God's will and accept His answer, even if the answer is not what we want it to be.