Series: Faith to move Mountains and witness Miracles
Scriptures: Matthew 15:21-28
What is persistent faith?
Persistent faith is type of faith that does not give up.
It keeps pressing on in times of difficulty and times of trials.
It doesn’t waver in the midst of circumstances and desperate situations.
John 16:33 NLT
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” - Jesus
A woman with persistent faith.
Matthew 15:21-28 NLT
21 Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Gentile woman who lived there came to him, pleading, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely.”
23 But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to go away,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.”
24 Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.”
25 But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, “Lord, help me!”
26 Jesus responded, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”
27 She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.”
28 “Dear woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly healed.
Matthew 15:8-12 NLT
8 ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
9 Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’”
10 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “Listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 11 It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.”
12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?”
Of all the Gentile nationalities, those of Canaanite descent would have been among the most abhorred by the Jews. The Canaanites were one of the idolatrous nations Israel was instructed to exterminate when they entered the Promised Land.
Deuteronomy 7:1-2 ESV
When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, 2 and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them.
Three things that this woman revealed in her Persistent Faith when tested by Jesus.
1. Persistent Faith Pursues.
Matthew 15:22 NLT
A Gentile woman who lived there came to him, pleading, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely.”
According to the gospel of Mark’s account of this story, Jesus was trying to be hidden…
Mark 7:24 NKJV
From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.
When we pursue Him, God will answer our cry.
Hebrews 11:6 NKJV
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
When we cry out to him like this woman did, He will answer.
Luke 18:7-8a TPT
Don’t you know that God, the true judge, will grant justice to all his chosen ones who cry out to him night and day? He will pour out his Spirit upon them. He will not delay to answer you and give you what you ask for. God will give swift justice to those who don’t give up. So be ever praying, ever expecting.
2. Persistent Faith Is Intense
Matthew 15:22-28 NLT
22 A Gentile woman who lived there came to him, pleading, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely.”
23 But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to go away,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.”
24 Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.”
25 But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, “Lord, help me!”
26 Jesus responded, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”
This woman’s INTENSITY uncovered others ENTITLEMENT.
While some who felt spiritually entitled would have taken offense to our Lord’s response, the woman’s response reveals that she not only understood that she had no rights of access to Jesus, she was still desperate for Jesus to intervene.
Romans 1:16a NIV
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes …
The gospel has the power of God to bring salvation to everyone who believes!
Entitlement is rampant in our society but it is also creeping into the church as the consumer culture infects the minds and hearts of many Christ-followers.
To battle entitlement, we need to live, in the fullest sense, by grace and with genuine gratitude.
There’s a great example of overcoming entitlement recorded in Matthew 8:5-13 and in Luke 7:1-10.
Luke 7:4-5 NLT
So they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man. “If anyone deserves your help, he does,” they said, “for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.”
Luke 7:6b-10 NLT
“Lord, don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honor. 7 I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 8 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”
9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, “I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” 10 And when the officer’s friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed.
Both of the persons in the Gospel of Matthew who had “great faith” were Gentiles: this Canaanite woman and the Roman centurion. In both cases, Jesus healed the one in need from a distance.
3. Persistent Faith Demonstrates integrity
In this story this woman’s faith passed a threefold test: the test of the sincerity; the test of its intensity; and finally, the test of her integrity. Her faith triumphs at last, and her daughter is healed.
Matthew 15:25-28 NLT
25 But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, “Lord, help me!” 26 Jesus responded, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”
27 She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.”
28 “Dear woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly healed.
In verse 25, the woman came and worshipped him.
This is true worship in its most basic form—to cast ourselves on God in helplessness, acknowledging the Lord’s power, love, and wisdom as our only source of help.
It was her persistent faith that Jesus acknowledged, and immediately He healed her daughter.
Jesus responded to this woman’s plea in four different ways: first, He was silent; then He refused; then He seemed to rebuke her; and finally He rewarded her faith.
Do you feel like God isn’t listening to you or answering your prayers, be encouraged by today’s story.
It may be that Jesus is wanting for you to persist in your faith.
Matthew 7:7 NLT
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.
Galatians 6:9 CEB
Let’s not get tired of doing good, because in time we’ll have a harvest if we don’t give up.
Philippians 1:6 ESV
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
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