Relentless Nature of Prayer (Chantilly Sermon)

Matthew 15:21-28 CSB – When Jesus left there,  he withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon.22Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out,  “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.”23 Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples  approached him and urged him, “Send her away because she’s crying out after us.”24 He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”25 But she came, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, help me! ”26He answered, “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”27 “Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”28 Then Jesus replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” And from that moment  her daughter was healed.

Matthew 15:22b CSB – Have mercy on me…

Proverbs 13:12 CSB – Hope delayed makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

1 – Cry out even when it’s uncomfortable

Psalm 130:1 CSB – Out of the depths I call to you, Lord!

Psalm 22:1 CSB – My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far from my deliverance
and from my words of groaning?

Psalm 13:1 CSB – How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?

Psalm 34:18 CSB – The Lord is near the brokenhearted;
he saves those crushed in spirit.

“God’s address is at the end of your rope”- Dallas Willard

2 – Hold on even when God is silent

Job 30:20 CSB – I cry out to you for help, but you do not answer me; when I stand up, you merely look at me.

Matthew 26:39 CSB – Going a little farther, he fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

When the teacher is silent, the test is happening

3- Press in even when it feels personal

Matthew 15:27 CSB – “Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

Matthew 15:28 CSB – Then Jesus replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” And from that moment  her daughter was healed.

“The real value of persistent prayer is not so much that we get what we want as that we come the kind of person God can trust with what we want”- Philip Yancey

“Because hope doesn’t take no for an answer”