Jesus and the Mother Who Wouldn't Give Up | Sunday Message

A New Beginning presents a new book from Pastor Greg Laurie. We are offering a brand new resource called The House of David Devotional and it's based on the great Psalms of David as well as the life of David. So I'm going to put this brand new devotional in your hand so you can learn from this man of God. Or your gift of any size at harvest.org. It's the official companion resource for the new Amazon TV series also called The House of David. Hey there, thanks for listening to the Greg Laurie podcast, a ministry supported by Harvest Partners.

I'm Greg Laurie encouraging you if you want to find out more about Harvest Ministries and learn more about how to become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org. All right, well we're back in our Jesus and You series and we're going to be looking at Mark chapter seven. And the title of my message is Jesus and the Mother Who Wouldn't Give Up.

Jesus and the Mother Who Wouldn't Give Up. Let's pray together. Father now I pray for anyone here or watching or listening who maybe is discouraged. Who perhaps they feel as though you're not listening to their prayer. You're not paying attention to their need.

But as we will discover in this story it's actually the very opposite of that. You're aware when we call out to you as your children. So help us to come closer to you through this. Speak to us from your word we pray. In Jesus name we ask this. Amen. Okay how many of you have GPS in your car or on your phone?

That'd probably be most of us right. And so we programmed the address in. You know sometimes if I'm going up to LAX even though I know how to get there I'll put LAX on my GPS. By the way the worst airport in the world.

Anyway I digress. So I've had time so I'm driving to LA. I know what freeway to take. I know what the off-ramp is. But suddenly GPS will say take the next off ramp. I'll say oh good GPS is helping me. GPS knows what's happening up the road.

Maybe there's a wreck or something. It's taking me around. So I obediently turn off as GPS tells me to. And it says turn left on this street. Turn right on that street. Turn left here. Stop. Get out of your car. Jump up and down five times.

Get back. Wait what is going on here? Then I say I'm just going to go the way I know to go.

And then it goes into its little mode. Recalculating. Recalculating.

Recalculating. And then do this and do that etc. So why do we do that? Because we trust in technology to get us where we want to go. And the bottom line is all of us put our trust in something.

All of us have faith in general. When you go to a restaurant you're applying faith. You're expecting that food will be prepared properly. It will be fresh.

It will be sanitary. When you board a 747 you have little understanding of aerodynamics. But despite that you expect that this metal tube weighing over 900,000 pounds is somehow going to get off the runway go to your desired destination and land. You trust the pilot and the co-pilot and the people who are directing them know what they're doing.

You're applying faith in all of these things every day. You go to the pharmacist. They fill your prescription. You expect they're going to put the right pills in that little bottle.

You go and get a surgery. You expect they're going to do the right surgeon. You apply faith in so many areas of life. So someone says just have faith in God and suddenly we recoil and say there's no way I can put my faith in God.

But listen there's no safer place to put your faith than in God Himself. After all who's more trustworthy? The chef in the kitchen or the creator of the universe? The pilot in the cockpit or the one who spoke the universe into existence?

The surgeon with a scalpel or the great physician who can heal both our body and our soul? So we put faith out every single day. Even atheists have faith.

Now they don't necessarily have faith in God but they have faith. Some put their faith in technology. Some put their faith in science. Boy science has sure let us down a lot lately right? How about the way our government dealt with the whole COVID crisis?

All the things they came up arbitrary rules that they designed. You know you must engage in social distancing 100 feet between every person in a line and you wear these little masks and you get this shot and if you get the shot you won't get COVID. And we got the shot and we got COVID and then the CDC came out and acknowledged yeah we never really had any real evidence to support the social distancing but you know and we tried to follow these rules but we were misled. I don't put my faith in science. I don't put my faith in politicians. I don't put my faith in technology. I'm going to put my faith in God. That's the only trustworthy one. I'm sure I offended someone there.

Well I like social distancing but then again I don't like people so it worked out my favor right? Jesus says have faith in God. Okay good. What is faith exactly? I think we overly mystify faith. It's defined for us in Hebrews 11 one and the Bible says faith is the substance of things hoped for. It's the evidence of things not seen. Whereas the New Living Translation puts it what is faith? It's a confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It's the evidence of things we cannot yet see. Faith is belief plus action. Faith is not giving mere intellectual assent to something. In other words I acknowledge that may be true. It's putting my weight on it.

For instance when I climb on this platform I expect that it's built well and it will support my weight of 150 pounds in my left leg and the other leg as well. You know I'm putting when I step onto the platform that's saying now I believe it enough to stand on it. To believe it's true for myself. The devil gives intellectual assent to certain truths. If I could interview Satan which I would not want to do I think we might be surprised how orthodox he is in some areas of theology.

As an example if I were to ask the devil, Lou, let me ask you this. Do you believe the Bible is the word of God? He would say yes. I hate every word of it he might say but I believe it's the word of God. If I were to say devil do you believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God?

Grudgingly he again would say yes because the Bible says that when Christ was tempted Satan said over and over since you are the son of God. But the Bible even says the demons believe and tremble. So they acknowledge the power of God but they don't have faith in God. So faith is applying yourself. Faith is belief plus action. Faith does things.

It does things. The Bible says faith without works is dead in James 2 17. A faith with no works is a faith that does not work. And Noah of course used faith when he built that ark. It had never rained. There was no body of water to take his ark to.

It would be like building a cruise ship in the middle of the desert in Arizona. Why are you doing that? But you see he put feet to his faith so to speak. David when he ran toward his adversary Goliath he was applying his faith. You see faith is not just something we talk about or put in a display case and admire.

It is something we use. It sounded like muscle. The more you use your muscle the stronger it becomes.

If you fail to use your muscle it will atrophy. In the same way faith grows stronger through use. And the Bible tells us indeed that just shall live by faith. Now it is very easy for us to tell someone else they should have faith.

But we don't always have it ourselves. Heard about a lady that went to her pastor and said pastor my husband told me if I keep coming to this church he'll kill me. The pastor said now now God will protect you. Have faith in the Lord. Just keep coming.

Okay she came back to him again. Pastor my husband said if I keep coming here he's going to kill me. No no you'll be fine. God will protect you. Have faith in God. Then one day she came and said pastor my husband said if I keep coming to this church he'll kill you. The husband said you know there's a nice little church on the other side of town.

You might see it's easy to tell someone else they have it but when it comes to us it might be something altogether different. Listen to this. Faith can make the difference between something happening or not happening. Faith can make the difference between something happening or not happening. Look God is sovereign and powerful and he can do what he wants when he wants wherever he wants but yet he primarily chooses to work through us. Like God could have sovereignly parted the Red Sea without any assistance from Moses.

But the Lord told Moses to stand there and hold out his staff in faith. God could have brought fire down from heaven and the story of Elijah and the false prophets. But he told Elijah to pray first. Jesus could have healed everyone when he walked this earth but he didn't did he. There were people that were still sick after Christ had his public ministry and died and rose again. But then there were those that were healed.

And who were the ones that were healed? So often they were the ones that called out to him. Like blind Bartimaeus hearing that Christ was coming his way. And he said son of David have mercy on me. And they said quiet don't bother Jesus. And he yelled louder son of David have mercy on me.

And what happened? Jesus stopped and healed Bartimaeus. And then there was a woman that had the medical issue that caused her to constantly bleed.

She had spent all of her money on doctors. And she just reasoned if I can touch the hem of his garment I will be healed. And one day Jesus comes walking through and she manages to slip her hand through the crowd and touch the edge of his robe and suddenly the healing power of God was released in her life. And Jesus stops and says who touched me? The disciples effectively say who didn't touch you?

Everybody touched you. Ah he says but I perceive the power has gone out of me. What caused that power to go out of him? Her faith. Her faith extended. Her faith put in to action. Well I bring this up because before it's here in Mark chapter 7 is a story of faith. The faith of a woman who is desperate. The faith of a woman who effectively would not take no for an answer. It's a faith of the mother who wouldn't give up.

Let's read about it. Mark 7 starting in verse 24. Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre.

He didn't want anyone to know which house he was staying in because but he couldn't keep it a secret. Right away a woman who had heard about him came and fell at his feet. Her little girl was possessed by an evil spirit and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter since she was a Gentile born in Syrian Phoenicia. Jesus told her first I should feed the children.

My own family the Jews. It isn't right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs. She replied that's true Lord but even the dogs under the table are allowed to eat the scraps from the children's plates. Good answer Jesus says. Now go home for the demon has left your daughter and when she arrived home she found her little girl lying quietly in bed and the demon was gone.

We'll stop there. What a powerful story that is. So here we see this woman was a model of faith that we should emulate. In fact in Matthew's commentary on the same story Matthew 15 28 we find Jesus says all woman great is your faith. So he wanted others to pay attention. Check out this girl's faith.

Look what she has done. Now think about this. Jesus is obviously an expert on the topic of faith. God incarnate he is who created all things. He has known every person he has ever called from Abraham to Moses. From Sarah to Ruth. From Elijah to Elisha. From Peter to John.

Yet he specifically commented on her faith. But what's going on? Her daughter her beloved little girl has come under the power of a demon spirit. And I think our children today are under spiritual attack perhaps more than any other generation I've ever seen. And one of the main ways this is happening is through social media. You've heard the phrase social contagion.

It's real. It means that you take something that actually spreads in a viral way. And take gender dysphoria as an example. In the past a very small percentage of people would deal with this. Now there's a sharp increase among generation Z specifically among adolescent girls identifying as transgender. This is reinforced by influencers, celebrities, school curriculums, media in general glamorizing this.

Normalizing this. And we have so many young people now grappling with this that did not grapple with this in a generation earlier. Then we have witchcraft that has been romanticized like never before.

From crystals to tarot cards to astrology. People say well it's just self-care. It's harmless. And they're opening the door to the devil. And I believe that people can still be demon possessed today.

So this is a very real problem. And as parents we need to be good spiritual leaders and pay attention to this. So what are some takeaway truths from the story of this woman? Well she had a desperate need and a relentless faith. She had a desperate need and a relentless faith. Listen she didn't have any basis to approach Christ.

Why? Because she was a Gentile, verse 26 says, born in Syrophoenicia. So as a non-Jew, as a Gentile, she lives in a pagan city that Christ specifically went out of his way to visit. So he effectively leaves the country. He's becoming more popular.

The crowds are swelling. And it's like Jesus says we're leaving the country now. We're going on foot. No Uber. No cars.

No anything. Just we're going to walk there because he had an appointment with this woman. And he arrives there and she probably worshiped false gods. She probably worshiped the goddess of her people known as Ashtart, the goddess of fertility. She was disillusioned with this. She felt Jesus could intervene and help her. But her daughter finds herself possessed by demons.

And there were probably little idols in her home. And it just reminds us that what we do in the home really matters. Because our kids are watching us. Little ears are listening to all of your conversations. Little eyes are watching the way that you live. Children don't just listen to what you say.

They watch what you do. As an example you drink in front of your kids and wonder why they one day end up with their own alcohol problems. You crack open a beer and say well I need this to relax after a hard day of work. And then you see your kids turn to alcohol for comfort and escape.

And you wonder how did this happen? Where did they learn this behavior? They learned it from you. You fight with your spouse. You scream. You yell.

Maybe even use profanity. Then one day your son or daughter shouts back at you in disrespect and you wonder where did they learn that? They learned that from you.

They learned it from the way you treat your spouse. Or you skip church often and wonder why your kids don't care about God. You go to church when it's convenient. Then your kids grow up and they don't go at all. Because you showed them church was optional. It just got so quiet in here.

Am I stepping on some toes? You have a very limited period of time with your children before they grow up. Precious days and weeks and months that slip by. Don't waste them. Take the time to train your children in the way of the Lord.

To train means you have to correct at times. You give parameters. Listen to this. Your kids don't need you to be their best friend. They need you to be their parent. Parent your children. Tell them what's right. Tell them what's wrong. Have rules. Have absolutes in your home. But then the word train also means to stimulate their thirst.

So it means that you're to provide constraints and parameters. But at the same time hopefully in the way that you live you motivate them to want to have a relationship with God like mom or dad has. So this poor woman you know her daughter was now under the complete power of the devil. And so she finds Jesus.

And she says please touch my little daughter. And Matthew 15 23 gives us in commentary. It says he answered her not a word. He answered her not a word.

So wait here's Jesus. He's going out of his way to visit Tyre and Sidon because he wants to have this moment with this woman. Now she finally comes to him and pleads that he would deliver her demon-possessed daughter and he answers her not a word. In other words he ignored her. He blew her off. Was Jesus ghosting her? Was he ignoring her? Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt as though God wasn't listening to your prayers? He wasn't paying attention to what was going on. Nothing could be further from the truth. Why is it that our prayers are not answered more often in the affirmative?

Let me give you a couple of reasons. One answer may be there's something going on in the spiritual realm that you or I don't even know about. In Daniel chapter 10 there's a fascinating story when we find the prophet Daniel praying. And an angel is dispatched from heaven with the answer to his prayer. And then the angel arrives 21 days later. That's a long time for an angel because they move fast by the way. And then the angel explains I was on my way to you with an answer to your prayer but I came to a fallen angel a demon power that overcame me so Michael the archangel was dispatched to overpower that other angel and now here I am with the answer to your prayer.

Wow. So who knows what's going on? When you're praying you think God's not listening.

Oh things are going on. And just remember his delays are not necessarily his denials. This is why Jesus said men are always to pray and not give up. But another reason our prayers are sometimes not answered is because of unconfessed sin in our life. Nothing will bring your prayer life to a halt more quickly than unconfessed sin. Psalm 68 18 says if I had not confessed the sin of my heart my Lord would not have listened. In Isaiah 59 the Lord says listen my hand is not too weak so it can't save you. It's not that I'm becoming deaf so I can't hear you.

Here's the problem. Your sins have cut you off from God and because of your sin he's turned away and will not listen anymore. So I need to confess my sins on a regular basis because you and I we sin way more than we think we do. Jesus taught us in the Lord's Prayer to pray our Father who art in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sin as we forgive those who have sinned against us right. Now in context he says pray for God to give you your daily bread not your monthly bread not your yearly bread. Each day give me my daily bread and right after that and forgive us our sins.

Looking at that in context it would appear to me I not only need to pray for daily bread I need to pray for daily forgiveness and there may be unconfessed sin in your life and that can be hindering your prayers from being answered. Now let's come back to the story. So here's this woman Lord Lord heal my daughter and then Jesus says now listen I can't take the food from the children and give it to the dogs. Did Jesus just call her a dog?

Actually he did. Now let's understand what word he used because in those days they there are two words that were used for dogs. One word is used to describe the mangy packs of dogs running around on the street attacking people. That's not the word he used. Years ago I was in a third world country and I went for a run and I was being chased by wild dogs.

I can tell you I ran faster because I did not want to be bit and even worse eaten by the dogs okay. That's not the word he used. There's another word to describe dogs that means the little puppies. So effectively Jesus says you know it's not right to take the children's bread and give it to the little pets the little puppies and then she says oh yes Lord but even the little puppies get the crumbs that fall from the master's table.

Can't you see this as a playful exchange? I can't prove it but I think there was a little bit of a smile on the face of our Lord. I think she could see that.

I think she had strong faith that would overcome this so-called hurdle and I think Jesus knew she would overcome their hurdle and he would ultimately commend her for this amazing faith. My son Jonathan they just got a dog for their son my grandson Christopher and it's a little female dog that they named Biscuit. So we have a little bit of history on the name Biscuit. My my son Christopher who's been in heaven now for a number of years was given the dog when he was a little boy and we had just visited my grandmother Mama Stella we called her who was an amazing cook and she made the best biscuits on earth. So we came home that night and I said Christopher what do you want to name your little dog? He said Biscuit. Okay so that's how the name came to be which is not the greatest name for a dog especially when you lose it and you're walking down the street yelling Biscuit Biscuit.

People think you're hungry they throw bread at you you know. Well Christopher liked that name so he named his little dog Biscuit so I went over to their house the other day and Biscuit his dog was coming to me more than him. He asked me why I said because you're his master and I'm his mega master. Papa why are you the mega master?

I just am. Well the reason I'm his mega master is that's giving them little treats on the side you see. That's how you become the mega master. So think about that now and effectively Jesus is saying hey I can't give the children's food to the dogs oh come on even even the mega master gives a little crumbs of the dog you know that are near the table. And man have we not become a culture obsessed with dogs lately?

When did all this start exactly? You know in the old days you used to have something in your backyard called a doghouse. Remember there was a doghouse and if the husband was in trouble the wife would say you're going to the doghouse. Remember Snoopy used to sleep on top of his doghouse. Now our house is the dog's house. Now we live in the dog's house. It's almost like it's the dog's world and we just live in it.

You know they sleep in our beds they eat at our tables we push them around in strollers we carry them in baby carriers which looks so pathetic. Dogs have Instagram accounts organic gourmet food luxury fashion. There's massage therapy for animals.

So we've gone from being pet owners to being owned by our pets. I've actually heard people say when invited to church come to church we can't leave the dog alone. Leave the stupid dog at home and go to church. Give me a break.

Seriously. Well listen I love dogs. Dogs are great but don't build your life around your dog.

Your dog is not your child okay. But she can see the love in his eyes. She can see the compassion and then she presses on and then he does the most amazing thing. He says okay I'm going to give you exactly what you want. Look at verse 29. Good answer.

Now go home. The demon has left your daughter. I think the disciples jaws dropped to the floor. What just happened? What just happened? That girl was revealing how we should pray.

And what do we learn from this? Jesus answered her prayer because of her persistence tenacity and commitment. When the door was shut in her face she only knocked harder. It reminds us of Jacob who was wrestling with the Lord. And he finally says I won't let you go until you bless me. We don't always know the will of God doing. So we pray to the best of our ability and we ask the Lord to do certain things for us. But when we're praying as an example for a non-believer to be saved you're praying according to the will of God.

Because the Bible specifically says God is not willing and any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Here's the secret to answered prayer in the affirmative. You need to pray according to God's will.

Well how do you figure that out? Well Jesus said in John 15 if you abide in me and my words abide in you you you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you. There's another translation puts it Jesus speaking if you maintain a living communion with me and my words are at home with you you can ask at once for yourself whatever your heart desires and it's yours.

Wow. Whatever my heart desires yes. Whatever your heart desires. But check this out when his word is at home in you and you're maintaining a living communion with him you're going to pray according to his will.

You see you're going to be aligned with his purposes. So this woman prayed. She would not give up. She had what I might describe as hysterical faith.

Let me explain. I read the story of a middle-aged mother named Angela. She was doing some housework washing some dishes and suddenly her son a junior in high school named Tony who was working on his 64 Chevy Impala. There was a loud crash. The car crashed on top of her son and he was lying unconscious under the car.

So Angela burst from the kitchen lifted the car 10 inches off the ground and pulled her son out. And there's a phenomena to describe this thing that happens occasionally and it's called hysterical strength. Hysterical strength.

The strength of a mother who won't give up. Well we need hysterical faith. Well we're not going to give up.

Jesus says knock and it shall be open. Seeking you shall find. Don't give up in your prayers. And that's what this mother was like. She kept praying.

Keep pressing on. Never stop praying for your children. Sid Lo Baxter a commentator from days gone by put it this way and I quote, men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, and oppose our arguments. They can even despise our persons but they're helpless against our prayers.

So what do we learn from this story? Number one faith is often found in the most unusual places. It is grace not the place which makes people believers. God sought this woman out even though she was not an Israelite or a Jew.

He took hold of her faith as she took hold of him. You know it's funny how Jesus commended faith on two occasions. And neither one was with one of his people. With the Jews.

Rather it was these Gentiles. She was a pagan woman and the other one was a Roman centurion who asked Jesus to intervene for him and Jesus said I have not found faith like this in all of Israel. Number two no matter what you're facing bring your problems to Jesus. What are you going through right now? Bring it to Jesus. Pray about it. Don't worry about anything Paul reminds us in Philippians. Pray about everything and the peace of God that passes all human understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Some people say well I'm not worthy to approach God.

Can I tell you something that might surprise you? You never were worthy to approach God. You never will be worthy to approach God. Your access to God was never based on your worthiness. It's always been based on his sacrifice. Where he gives you access to God through the blood of Jesus Christ.

So take advantage of that access. And when you pray seek to find God's will and pray with persistence and have the hysterical faith like this mother had. What are you facing right now? Maybe it's a prodigal son or daughter. Maybe it's a broken marriage. Maybe it's a personal struggle. Something you've been praying about for a long time. Like this woman keep praying keep pressing on. God will hear your prayer. No matter who you are.

No matter where you're at. I remember when I prayed one of my first prayers which went something like this. God if you're real make yourself real to me. I wasn't raised in the church. I wasn't raised reading the Bible. I wasn't really even parented for the most part. And because of this I became very hard, very cynical, very closed off, walled off. And I didn't know anything about God.

But I knew I wanted a relationship with him. And so you know my story on my high school campus. I came across a group of Christians singing about Jesus and I sat down and eavesdropped on their conversation. And when that preacher Lonnie Frisbee was his name played by Jonathan Rumi in the Jesus Revolution film said Jesus said you're for me or against me. I put my faith in Jesus but I did not know what I'd done. No one explained to me afterwards Greg you're a Christian now and you need to start reading the Bible. They didn't give me a new believer's Bible.

It didn't exist yet. So no one said anything to me. The bell rang for the next period class and I left that weekend for my plans I already had to go off to the Ortega Mountains and use drugs. And I went with my friends and and I was going to go drop acid as we used to say take LSD and smoke some weed. And I said I want to be by myself. And I sat down on a rock and I was thinking about what I'd just done and I didn't really know what I'd done but I knew something had happened to me. And and I realized I don't want this anymore. And I threw that pipe away and I said God if you're real make yourself real to me. I don't understand this.

I don't know what to do next. I don't even know how to believe but if you're real make yourself real to me. And you know what he did and he does and he will continue to do so for you. This woman in our story knew so little. She worshiped false gods but she heard about Jesus and just called out to him and he heard her prayer and answered her prayer. And he'll do the same for any person who comes to him with real faith. And remember faith is just okay as much as I understand I believe. Like that one man said Lord I believe but help my unbelief. You don't need super faith. You just need to put as much faith as you have in a super God who would do abundantly and above that what you could ask or think. And so in closing I want to say there might be somebody here who doesn't have a relationship with God.

Maybe you're hearing these things I'm saying for the first time. But you need to know that 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ came to this planet of ours. He was born in a manger. He went and died for our sins on a cross and rose again from the dead three days later. And now he's here with us standing at the door of our life and knocking. And he's saying if we'll hear his voice and open the door he will come in. And I ask you in closing have you asked Jesus to come into your life? Has he forgiven you of your sin? Do you know that when you die you will go to heaven? Do you have this relationship with God?

You can have it right now. He's standing at the door of your life and he is knocking and he is saying if you hear his voice and open the door he'll come in. If you would like to open the door of your life to Jesus Christ you can do it right here right now. Let's all bow our heads to our prayer. Father I pray for everyone here, everybody on every Harvest Campus, anybody watching wherever they are. If they don't have this relationship with you help them to come to you and believe. Help them to come to you and find your forgiveness.

We pray for them now. Know when our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying. If you would like Jesus Christ to come into your life. If you would like him to forgive you of your sin. If you would like to know that when you die you will go to heaven.

If you want to fill that huge hole in your heart. If you want Jesus to come into your life. Wherever you are I want you to lift your hand up and I'm going to pray for you. Raise your hand up saying I need Jesus Christ today. Pray for me. Let me pray for you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. Raise your hand up high where I can see it please. Let me pray for you today. This can be the day where everything changes for you. God bless you.

Anybody else? Raise your hand up. You want Christ in your life. God bless you.

Raise your hand up high. Let me pray for you. You want Jesus to come into your life and forgive you of your sin. God bless you. God bless you. Lord I thank you for each one of these that have taken this step of faith.

To help them to take the next step and stand for you all the days of their life. I commit them to you now. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen.

Hey everybody. Thanks for listening to this podcast. To learn more about Harvest Ministries follow this show and consider supporting it. Just go to Harvest.org. And to find out how to know God personally go to Harvest.org and click on Know God.