Well, I don't know if you battle allergies. I find my contact lenses are sticking to my eye and we get up to sing and I thought, oh no, I can hardly read that tonight. And usually I don't have any trouble. So some of you might be having that issue. You know what the Lord said, if your contact sticks to your eye, you can't pull the beam out of the other guy's eye. Something along those lines. All right. I'm always reminded to turn my phone quiet. You may want to do that. I get up here, I have my mental checklist. One time phone went off in the service and it kept going off. And you know how it is, it's always the person that can't find their phone. And so it's, and everybody's looking around. It's like the elephant in the room and you can't ignore it. And finally I, you know, you couldn't ignore the obvious. So I said, it's the devil calling. And the guy finally found it. He said, it's my mother-in-law. So I realized I probably better not say that anymore. Alrighty. Matthew 15. So, many of you know the name George Mueller. His name came up at lunch today. We were talking about people of faith like George Mueller, Hudson Taylor. And it made me think about George Mueller's prayer life. I once read that George Mueller had a journal that he kept where he could record 30,000 answers to prayer in no more than a week, sometimes less than a week's time. I thought, wow, can you imagine, how would you like to just be able to record 30,000 answers to prayer? But 30,000 in a week or less. But then I remember reading his life story, and recently I was re-listening to some on audio, the autobiography of George Mueller, and there were times he would pray and pray, and it would take a while before answers came. renowned of those, was praying for the lost people that he was most burdened for. He had a list of five particular people, and he wrote in his journal he started praying for them when he was a young adult, and he said, I prayed every day, whether sick or in health, whether on land or at sea, whatever the pressure of my engagements might be, And by the way, when he set on sea, he traveled 250,000 miles around the world. Most of that was by ship back then, you know, so a quarter million miles around the world. The man spent a lot of time traveling and preaching. And he said, I prayed every day for these people. So he said that it was 18 months before one out of the five came to Christ. So he said, I wrote in my journal of praise to God and thanked God for that one, kept praying for the other four. Well, after the first one got saved, it was another five years, and then a second one on his list came to faith. So he said, I thank God for that one. Now I've got three more, keep praying. Well, then a span of six more years went by. And finally, another one came to the Lord. Now, you know, we're up to about 13 years, 12 and a half years now. And he said, I kept praying for the other two and kept praying. Well, in his diary, he wrote 36 years have gone by, He said, I'm still praying for the remaining two every day. They're not converted yet, but they will be. And he kept praying and he kept praying. Finally, George Mueller died. And after he died, the remaining two came to faith in Christ. It had been over 60 years that he prayed daily for these people. Now think about that. I asked myself, how long would you pray? And I'm not talking about, can you pray an hour? Persisting in prayer. Continuing prayer. In fact, tonight I want to preach a message I call Prayer That Prevails. Prayer that prevails. And it's from one of those perplexing passages of scripture. It's Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman. Why don't you look along with me there? Matthew chapter 15 and verses 21 to 28. I'll read the section. If you'd follow along, but what I'd like you to do, I know it's familiar, but I'd like you to think as we're reading this. Okay, so what is unusual? about Jesus' interaction with this woman. Let me read it. You think about that as we read. Then Jesus went thence and departed into the coast of Tyre and Sidon. Behold, a woman came out of the same coast and cried to him, saying, have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David. My daughter is grievously vexed with the devil. But he answered her, not a word. His disciples came and besought him, saying, send her away, for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I'm not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, it is not me to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs. She said, truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and said to her, O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee even as thou wilt. Her daughter was made whole from that very hour. Now, what's unusual about the way Jesus treats this woman? You know, I've got to tell you, when I first started rustling through this passage, I thought, he seems rude. You know, I know that's not true of the Lord, but I mean, it's the way he comes across. I'm reminded of this. Anytime that God acts in a way that doesn't seem to jibe with his character, remember this, the problem's never with God. The problem's with our understanding of God. I find too quickly you and I tend to put God on trial. We tend to treat God as if he's somehow guilty. Well, if God's good, how could this happen? And you know, whoa, wait a minute, that is not our place. We are the ones who will answer to God. He doesn't answer to us. And too many people have ruined their lives by making false assumptions about God. So remember this, if ever you come to a place where you think, I just don't get it. The problem is not with God. The problem is with our understanding of God. And should it surprise us that we're confounded by God? I mean, he is infinite. He is omnipresent, all present. He's omniscient, he knows everything. He's omnipotent, he's all powerful. Is it perplexing to you that you don't comprehend God fully? I mean, it shouldn't be. Imagine if you're a mathematician and you were trying to teach calculus to kindergartner, would you be frustrated? I mean, you'd be frustrated trying to teach calculus to me, I'll tell you that. I would not get it. I went as high as trigonometry and I was at the length of my tether, all right? But I'll tell you this, that doesn't negate the legitimacy of trigonometry or calculus, just because you can't explain it to me or a kindergartner. Imagine trying to be God and explain yourself to finite beings. So I know when I read this and I'm perplexed and I think, okay, that just seems like rude. I grew up, Paul Smith and I grew up near people that were like this. Have you ever met people from Jersey? You know, in Philly? How you doing? Shut up, get out of my way. In Philadelphia, if they want your opinion, they'll give it to you, you know? So we call it the city of brotherly shove. They wear their opinions on their sleeves. I know that world. So here's this woman and she comes to Jesus and he, this is rare, this is one of the few times that he ventured outside of the boundaries of his country. In fact, I only know of one other time specifically that he went outside his country and it was when he was a child. Remember when he went to Egypt? But here he's going to Tyre and Sidon. Now these are right along the Mediterranean Sea. They're in Lebanon today, and you know of places like Tripoli. Okay, well they're down the coastline, Tyre and Sidon. And they had been historically given to idolatry. In fact, the Lord gives a renowned prophecy in Ezekiel that Tyre would one day be destroyed and they thought that's never gonna happen because they these two little islands right off the coast and you know armies couldn't get to him and it was too shallow for ships to come in there and they thought no one's gonna defeat us and sure enough the defeat came in fact in two phases and the first time they were defeated the islands got destroyed I'm sorry the coastland part got destroyed and then along came Alexander the Great and he takes the rubble and builds causeways out to the islands and they get destroyed and listen if God says it's gonna happen it's gonna happen So that's a little bit of history to it. But here the Lord Jesus goes, and let's go back again to verse 21. So he went from there, thence departed into the coast of Tyre and Sidon, and behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coast. Now the Canaanites, these are descendants of the Philistines, okay? This is as Gentile as it gets. Now, she's heard of Jesus and, you know, this isn't like today where stuff gets posted on social media or, oh, I saw on Instagram so-and-so was in town. How did they know? We're just traveling. And how often would Jesus be in a place like hers? Well, never. And she has heard about him and she has a problem that's so big, there is nobody that can solve it, but she knows he could. What's her problem? Her kid's demon-possessed. Have you ever dealt with a demon-possessed child? Now some of you are like, mm, I'm wondering, you know, but I mean really a demon-possessed child. Can you imagine? If you had a demon-possessed child, what would you do? I mean, you call a doctor, a psychiatrist, you know, you call your pastor, right? Pastor, did you have a class in college on how to deal with demon possession? I didn't have that one either, yeah. But it's real, it happens. And so she's got a child who's demon-possessed. She goes out seeking help from Jesus. So what can we learn from her? Well, I've got to apologize. My outline tonight is a bit wordier than I usually like. I'm using a lot of words you may have to look up in the dictionary. And I try to be simple, but the reason I did this was I just wanted to express it as adeptly as possible to understand the concept. I'm not trying to be impressive, okay? I just wanted to use certain words to, you know, paint the picture. So let's start with this, not too hard, but number one is her recognition of the Savior's significance. Her recognition of the Savior's significance, and that's in verse 22. So let's look at her recognition. Behold, a woman came out of the same coast and cried to him, saying, have mercy on me. And notice the noun of direct address. What does she say? Oh, Lord, Master, you're the boss. Kurios, you're the one who calls the shots. I mentioned to the guys at the retreat, you know, our term Lord, we think of terms of landlords, you know, days of serfdom, where the one who owned the property had people that would then work for him, and they would have the benefit of having housing provided and food provided, so they work, and then they get compensated, so he's the owner, he's the Lord, the boss, and then they work for him. Jesus asked, why call you me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? You and I are accustomed to calling him Lord. But she's a pagan. She's from a pagan background. Isn't it interesting? She addresses him as Lord, and you'll see that she never deviates from that term of respect. She calls him Lord three times in this passage. So she comes and she says, oh Lord, have mercy on me. Interesting, the word cried there. Cry is a cry of desperate dependence. In fact, I thought of James 5.16, the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Very interesting. Our King James is a formal equivalent translation. You try to go as word for word as you can. But that's one case where they had to use two words to translate one word. Affectual fervent. Affectual means producing results. Cause and effect. If I hit my hand too hard, there's an effect, okay? It hurts, right? So effectual. And what's fervent? Fervent is boiling over. Fervent has to do with like, if you shook up a can of soda, pop, right? Coke, okay? And then you pull the tab, what's gonna happen? all over the place, right? Running over. That's the idea of fervent. So effectual fervent, it is interesting too, there is a connection between fervent prayer and effectual praying. Both are tied in. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. She cried to him. She said, Lord, I've got to have your help. Okay, then notice this. She addresses him as son of David. That's interesting. Every Jew was a son of Abraham. But there was one who was prophesied to be the son of David, the one that would sit on David's throne. That's the Messiah. Is it possible this pagan woman knows something that even many of the Jews had not recognized? Calls him son of David. Then she says, have mercy on me. Okay, now, mercy. You know, mercy and grace are kindred terms. We usually think of mercy as God withholding from us the judgment that we deserve, and grace as God giving to us what we don't deserve. Here in mercy is used a lot like we use the term grace. You know, please extend grace to me, have mercy on me. I like to illustrate it this way. Did you ever play the game mercy? You lock hands with somebody and you try to bend their hand backward until the other person's on the ground in pain. How many of you ever played that game? Look at all the women with their hands raised, okay. So you lock hands with somebody and then the loser's on the ground and they say, mercy, mercy. Now there are variations of it. One of them was uncle. I don't know where uncle came from, but mercy, okay. So what does it mean? I don't have power. I don't have the ability to overpower you. I can't get out from under this. I'm just asking, would you please show some pity and hold off what you're laying on me right now? She doesn't come saying, now you owe me, because what does he owe her? She doesn't say, I deserve this, because she can't claim that. She just appeals to his pity and says, would you have mercy on me? Have mercy on me, oh Lord, thou son of David. And then she says, my daughter's grievously vexed with the devil. I think that above everything, she honors the Lord by the enormity of her request. You know, it's one thing to say, Lord, would you allow us to have a nice day tomorrow? Or Lord, you know, maybe would you let us get a raise this year? Or what is she praying? She said, I'm asking you to do something that nobody else can do, because I don't know anybody that can deliver my child from demonic spirits, but I know you could. What's the biggest thing you've asked God for lately? Dawson Trotman, who was the founder of the Navigators Movement, that focused on discipleship and evangelism and emphasized the memorizing the scripture, Dawson Trotman said, I think too often we're asking God for toys and trinkets when we should be asking for continents. What did he mean by that? I got convicted of that in my own prayer life. I thought, okay, what about these 1040 window countries? I thought about countries where people do not have the blessing like you and me to hear the gospel. And, you know, a lot of times we talk about different people groups, and the problem is not the people group, it's their leaders. You know, I mentioned the Chinese the other day, and I was thinking of the Chinese Communist Party. You know, I'm not opposed to Chinese people at all. I mean, God sure isn't. He made 1.4 billion of them. He must love them, right? But man, the Chinese Communist Party is just pushing the people with the notions of atheism, communism, etc. How about Indian people? And I don't mean Native American Indians. I'm talking about people from India in the East. 1.2 billion of them, right? And God must love Indians. He made a lot of them. How many of them really have the opportunity to hear the gospel? I've put China on my prayer list, India on my prayer list, North Korea on my prayer list. I've put Muslims, my sister and brother-in-law work in Southeast Asia trying to reach Muslims. I put the Uyghurs who are incarcerated in China, and here they are standing up for a faith that I understand to be misplaced, but they're being targeted and persecuted, and what chance do they have to hear the gospel? Well, somebody needs to pray for them. What about people in Cuba who don't have the opportunity to hear the gospel? I mean, I'm sure you can come up with your own list, but these are some that I've added to my prayer list, praying, God, would you please bring a breakthrough? And I'm hearing story upon story, people in places like Iran and Iraq that are being given the gospel and coming to saving faith. Look, the Lord says you have not because you want. You ask not. So what are you asking God for lately? She comes and says, would you please heal my demon-possessed daughter? So that's her recognition of the Savior's significance. It's not only the way she addresses him that shows she realizes how significant he is, it's what she asks of him. Let me ask you, if somebody listened in on your prayer life, somebody listened in on the way you entreat God, would they know that you deem God to be significant? her recognition of the Savior's significance. But then number two, I want you to see this, his, and now we're going to Jesus, his reaction of apparent aloofness. Okay, here's where I'm a little wordy and I gotta explain it to you. His reaction of apparent aloofness. Aloofness. All right, the word aloof, some of the kids are looking at me like, why didn't we have kids class tonight? Sorry kids, I'll spell it. Okay, aloof. A-L-O-O-F. And then N-E-S-S. Aloofness. Okay, what does that mean? That's what I wanted to know. One day my dad and I were driving around, he was a general contractor. And my dad was the kind of guy, anytime he'd read a book, he didn't know a word, he'd look it up in the dictionary and he'd write the definition in the margin of the book. So his books are full with definitions. And he was a wordsmith. We'd get Reader's Digest, and he'd always go to the word building section, right? So he's a general contractor with the mind of a college professor. And one day we're riding around, and he'd been out with a mayor in New Jersey that I had heard of. So I said, how was lunch with the mayor, dad? I'm a teenager at the time. He said, oh, it was all right. I said, oh, really? What made it not better than all right? He said, well, he's kind of aloof. I said, what's aloof mean? He said, don't you know? Now I know if I'd have been home, he said, go get the dictionary. Well, we weren't home. So, and back then there's no, and you know, now I have a Merriam-Webster app on my phone. I just go there, right? There was no phone app. So my dad said, you don't know what aloof is? I said, well, you know, dad, I think I learned it in school, but I don't remember. He said aloof is maintaining distance between you and the other person, holding them at bay. It's not allowing an emotional connection. He said he just came across rather condescending. I knew what that meant. Okay, so I'm calling this his reaction of apparent aloofness because that's what it seems. Look with me there at verse 23. But he answered her not a word. You ever talk to somebody you know they heard you and they don't say anything? What do you think? Fine then, you know? How rude. Okay, she pours her guts out to him, and what does he say? Nothing. He answered her not a word. So then what happens? The disciples came and besought him, saying, send her away, for she crieth after us. So in other words, after she got nothing from him, she started working on the disciples. You're one of his disciples, would you talk to him for me? They're like, Lord, would you do something about this woman? Now she's pastoring us. Look at verse 24. But he answered and said, I'm not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Oh, okay, so this is where I really started struggling with the passage. And I did what I suggested you do. Don't open up a commentary first, go to the author first. I said, Lord, I gotta try to figure this out, because this doesn't seem like it's really consistent with your character. Not my problem, lady. That's how it seems. Okay, I'm not sitting with the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Okay, Israel, they're chosen people of God. She's a Gentile, not God's chosen people. So I have a brother-in-law who has a certain expression he likes to use, A-M-P. You know what A-M-P is? Ain't my problem. So he likes to amp it up. A-M-P, all right, ain't my problem. So that seems the way Jesus comes across here. And I thought, all right, that's carnal, that's not Jesus. So what's the point? And I'm praying and I'm struggling. And as I'm praying about this, the Lord, I believe it was the Lord, the Lord brought to my mind a title of a book that I'd read. It was a book on prayer by Andrew Murray. And the book was entitled, With Christ in the School of Prayer. Have you ever heard of the book? Anybody ever heard of it? Anybody ever read any of With Christ in the School of Prayer? It's a good book, it's worth reading, okay? So Andrew Murray was a South African preacher, and man, I'll tell you, the man had a prayer life. And he said, prayer is like being enrolled in school. And you remember the disciples said, Lord, teach us to pray? And I got thinking, yeah, I don't wanna spend my life in grammar school and prayer. You know, I'd like to go on to high school. In fact, I'd like to go to college in prayer. In fact, if ever there was a doctorate worth having, I'd like to have a doctorate in praying, so to speak, right? I don't wanna just be a kid in kindergarten my whole life and praying. And as I'm mulling that over, I thought, oh, well, wait a minute, Christ in the school of prayer. One thing I know about school is if you're gonna advance from one grade level to the next, along the way, you have to pass some, tell me kids, you have to pass what to go to the next grade levels? Tests, yeah, you gotta take some exams. Pass some tests, right? And it clicked. He's testing her. And if you understand this, he gives her three exams here and folks, she gets an A plus. In fact, she does better than a lot of Christians when they're tested in the matter of prayer. She gets an A plus. All right, what are the three tests? Well, two of them we've just read about. So under his reaction of apparent aloofness, I wrote test number one, test of silence. Test of silence. Have you ever prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed, and it seems like you're getting nowhere? I was telling Pastor and Krista at lunch today and Ivy that in evangelism, I had gotten burdened way back when I was in college that Why don't people live like George Mueller? Why don't they live like Hudson Taylor? These men had the philosophy of movement through God by prayer alone. Live by faith. They didn't go into debt for anything. They didn't ask people for anything. They just asked God. I thought, man, why don't people live like that in the 21st century? Back then it was the 20th century. Why don't they live like that today? And the Lord impressed me. Why don't you? Good question. and I'm gonna be in a ministry of faith, maybe I ought to exercise faith. So I remember telling the Lord as a young college kid, Lord, I will purpose, I will never go into debt for anything, I will trust you for my needs, and I'll, as much as possible, make my needs known only to you. By the way, that's not to say if you do it differently that you're wrong, it's just the Lord distinctly impressed my heart to do this. And so I remember when Angela and I got serious about each other, I said, hon, listen, if you and I are to get married, there's something you need to know. I made this commitment to God not to go into debt for things and to trust Him to meet my needs and make my needs known only to Him so much as I'm able. She said, oh, I'm good with that. You talk about how, you know, when you marry a person, you really marry a family. My wife grew up in the home of evangelist Lars Westberg, and she grew up an evangelist daughter. The Lord prepared her. She knows more about what we do than I know. She was in it longer than I've been, right? So the Lord prepared her for what we do. But I'll tell you, Neither of us were really prepared for trusting God for hundreds of thousands of dollars when it came to trucks and trailers and things like that. We've had three different trucks and two different trailers and we've had to just wait. And I figured out if you're gonna live by faith, the price you'll pay is waiting. Now if you're gonna live by debt, the price you'll pay is interest. Sometimes I'd rather pay interest. So there is a price to pay one way or another. So we set out to live this way. Well, The test of silence. I've got to tell you, over the years we've seen God provide three different trucks, two different trailers. I mean, it's been incredible. I may go into that sometime this week, not tonight, but I'll just tell you this. Currently, we've been praying now for six years for God to provide us the next trailer. And now this one has gotten to the point it is not travel worthy right now. And I don't foresee it will be. It's not going to get better. You know where I am right now? I'm in the test of silence. I've prayed, and I've prayed, and I get that. I know where I am. So I've been at this long enough to know what's going on. How do you think Mueller felt when normally he gets prayers answered quickly, and then he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays, and he prays called God's, I'm sorry, the book was called Life's Ultimate Privilege, a man named Davern Framke. But God's response is to prayer. Listen to this. When we pray, he may say no, grow, slow, or go. Okay, so one of four options. I'm gonna come back to this. But sometimes he says, you know, no. Have you ever gotten a no from God and you look back and say, whew, thank God he said no. I'd have regretted that one. Anybody beside me ever? Yeah, I'd have married the wrong person if God had not said no, right? Sometimes he says grow. In fact, I'll point that one out here. When God says we must first grow, it's because he insists on maturity. God's own character was at stake when his children doubted that a loving father would answer their earnest pleas. Let's be encouraged that even the most feeble efforts at praying receive God's full attention. So what should be more important? getting our prayers answered, or getting to know God. Yeah, how many times when you're really earnest about something, you've had to spend more time praying earnestly, you know, it's deepening your knowledge of your Father. You're paying more attention to promises on prayer. We must be encouraged that it's always right to expect prayer to be answered, yet it's also imperative that through much diligence and perseverance, we can get to know God. And when he answers that we must grow some more, it's because he must enlarge our vision to see the way he sees. So no is an answer. You remember, no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. So if you say, God didn't answer my prayer. Well, sometimes he says no, and that is an answer. But sometimes he says, no, grow. I need you to grow. But then we'll get to the slow and the go in just a minute. All right, I'll come back to that. So first is the silent treatment, but then notice this. She starts getting helpers with her, you know, like, okay, so you, Peter, hey, James, would you go talk to him? You guys are his followers. Would you get him to help me? And they come say, would you get this gal off our back now? She's bugging us. And okay, I know I'm being colloquial, but that is how it happened. They didn't come and say, oh Lord, we thank you that this woman has, they said, Lord, get this gal out of here. She's driving us crazy. So then what happens? She says, or no, he says, hey, it's not my problem. I'm sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Okay, now we have the test of shunning. What's shunning? Pushing aside. Man, that really doesn't seem God-like, does it? The test of shunning. Have you ever been at a prayer meeting and you thought, well, it was great to hear all these requests answered tonight, all these praises, that's pretty neat, but I'm not getting my prayer answered. Now, the first thing we ought to do is search our hearts. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. That's Psalm 66, 18, right? He that turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination. That's Proverbs 28, 9. If we're not hearing God, he's under no obligation to hear us. But also James says, you have not because you, what? So sometimes I think we have a heavenly wish list. We've got a lot of things we wish God would do, but how much do we actually engage in praying? We say, I pray about it. Well, when? When did you pray about that? I think sometimes we've got a wish list, but did we actually engage in praying? There is something to be said for engaging in prayer. Remember this, God knows everything. but he expects you to do your part in things. My daughter was about nine, Heather, my tallest middle one there. She came one day, I think nine years old and said, hey dad, why do you think God wants us to pray? That's, you know, I mean, what's more important than praying, right? Reading your Bible and praying. And I said, what do you mean? She said, dad, God already knows what we're gonna say before we pray, so why should we even, why bother? I said, well, that's a good question. Let me think about it before I answer you, which is always good as a parent. It's okay to buy time, okay? I said, honey, I'm sure there are a lot of reasons God wants us to pray. The foremost that comes to my mind is this. When God pours out blessings we didn't ask for, we often take them for granted. Like when we have beautiful weather, how many people say, isn't God good? This is so beautiful. Even Christians don't do that. We should. And if you do, good for you. I try to do that all the time. Lord, it was a beautiful day. Lord, thank you for what you made today. Thank you for the, that's good, right? But man, as soon as things go wrong, as they go bad, God gets the blame. Some of you remember the attacks in 9-11 in New York and Washington, D.C. And the country's saying, why did God let this happen to America? Isn't it amazing when things go bad, it's God's fault? I'll tell you what happens. When you pray specifically and God answers specifically, guess who gets the credit? God does. And I believe that's one of many reasons, but maybe the foremost reason he says you have not because you asked not. Because when you engage in prayer, you're moving into a realm where you have no power. It is he who has power. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. By the way, what's it mean to pray in Jesus' name? Well, if I were to write you a check, let's say I wrote Pastor a check for a million dollars, okay? Now, he doesn't know me that well, but he knows my name is Rich, and it really doesn't mean much, right? So if I wrote him a check for a million dollars, he might staple it to his bulletin board and say, hey, isn't that cool? Rich Choza wrote me a check for a million dollars. But you know what he's not doing? He ain't cashing it. Forgive my bad grammar, okay? He's not cashing it. Why? Because he knows I'm not worth it, right? I mean, literally not worth it. I don't have the means to back that up, right? But if someone like, you know, Warren Buffett or Donald Trump or, you know, any Bill Gates for that matter, if any of them wrote you a check for a million dollars, what would you do? I'd cash it, man. Okay, now, when you write a check, oh, by the way, millennials and Gen Z, let me explain. Checks were little pieces of paper, okay? pay to the order of and for such and such amount. But there was one thing that had to be on a check to make it valid. What do you have to have on it? Signature, you gotta sign it. Because if you don't sign it, it's not authorized to transfer the money. To pray in Jesus' name means he signed off on this. This is coming out of his account. When you and I move into the realm of prayer, we're moving into a realm where we have no power, but God has all power. So the test of shunning is a test. Like I'm not sent for the lost sheep of house of Israel. She's thinking in her mind, I've got nowhere else to go, which is exactly what he wants her to understand. Whom have I in heaven but thee? There is none upon earth I desire beside thee. Why does the scripture say that? Because there is no one but God can do what you and I need, the greatest needs of our lives only God can provide. So there is his reaction of apparent aloofness, the test of silence, the test of shunning. But then notice number three here, and we go back to the woman. Her response to presumed prejudice. Her response to presumed prejudice. Now let me just tell you that prejudice is an awful thing, and I hate that we're living in a country that's just trying to stir up the race card and racism. Look, if you know God, you should not have any prejudice in your body. Prejudice, let me just tell you, prejudice is evil. Now, the Jews were God's chosen people, but did the Lord mean by that that They shouldn't even talk to Gentiles. It's interesting when, in the book of John, where did Jesus first go to publicly proclaim the gospel? He went to the Samaritans. Whoa, the Samaritans, half-breed Jews, inner-bred Jews, whoa. Isn't that amazing? In fact, he was gonna fulfill the prophecy that the gospel would go to the Gentiles. That was a shocking revelation to the Jews. They thought the Gentiles are our problem. They're living in the times of the Gentiles, under the oppression of the Gentiles. They're like, we need Rome, out of here. The Lord says, I want all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Okay, there should not be prejudice in our hearts. God created all men equal. Now, having said that, understand this. God created all men. That does not mean that all men are God's children. Meaning, this has nothing to do with race. This has to do with individual relationship. All men need to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. So while all men are created equal and all men are precious because they're made by God, not all men are saved. And that's why we can't assume anybody knows God. We need to speak to them about their need for Christ. Okay, so notice her response to presume prejudice. The Jews were known, were renowned for their bigotry toward any non-Jews. All right, pick up in 25 then. 1525, then came she and worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me. She came and what? Worshiped him. By the way, the ancient people here, she, her people, as well as the Jews, they didn't think of worship as somebody getting up with rhythmic music, and we're gonna sway all over the place, and we're gonna have a worship experience. Worship was not me feeling good. Worship was exalting God, and the word literally means to lower oneself in the presence of another. even to prostrate oneself, to bow down in the presence of another. You remember when in days of monarchy where there were kings or queens and folks would bow and say, your eminence, you know, person in the high place of, you know, your royal highness, you're in a high position, I'm in a low position. You know, that kind of rubs us the wrong way as Americans. We don't bow to anybody. Well, I want to tell you something, we're going to bow to somebody. One day, every knee shall bow. Every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and He is the Lord of all lords. He's the Lord to the glory of God the Father. Okay, so her response to presumed prejudice, she comes and she worships Him. This is right after he first said nothing and then he shuns her. She gets two tests here. Man, this gal is getting A+. She came and worshiped him, and then she again calls him Lord, and she has a very simple prayer, Lord, help me. I like what Charles Spurgeon said about this. Short, urgent, and to the point was this petition. As we grow earnest, our words usually become fewer. Boy, isn't that the truth? You know, after praying about my trailer for six years, I'm kind of at the place where I'm praying, Lord, you know the need. I mean, I've been through all the details, right? Lord, I want to praise you. It'll come, I know, in your time, it's out there. There's not much more to be said. He knows that. She just says three words, Lord, help me. But I wonder, do you pray prevailing prayers? I don't know. When the Lord said pray without ceasing, that's not merely praying all the time. I think you should be in an attitude of prayer around the clock. You can make that application. But praying without ceasing is don't stop until you get an answer. We're too passive when it comes to praying. We just quit. Well, God didn't answer my prayer. Well, how long did you stay with a long time? Look, a thousand years to the Lord is about a day. George Mueller praying 60 years, that's nothing. Hey, if somebody's eternal destiny depended on your praying, I wonder, would they end up in heaven? Well, I don't think it depends on my praying. Well, we have the privilege to cooperate with God in the matter. And I wanna tell you something, I don't understand all the ramifications of all that is used in God's dealings with people and drawing people, but I know he says he wants all men to be saved. I know he says pray for all men. I know that he says pray for all men because he wants all men to be saved. I know there is a connection between the praying for and the salvation of a person. Are you engaged in that warfare? So her response to presume prejudice, but number four, His, now back to Jesus, his reluctance despite a passionate plea. Again, sorry so wordy tonight, but his reluctance, his hesitancy, his reluctance despite a passionate plea. Look at verse 26. He answered and said, it's not me to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs. Oh, oh, ouch. Why do I say ouch? What did Jews call Gentiles? Dogs. By the way, this kind of goes back to the previous action when the word worship here says she came and worshipped him. The term is such a term of adoration that the picture is this, it's like a dog licking its master's fingers. How many of you own a dog? Anybody here own a dog? Okay, how many of you have a dog that's a licker? They show affection by licking. Okay, so you walk in the house and, You know, and, oh, okay. So even, and I love dogs, but I don't like to be licked indefinitely, so, okay. And I know, my aunt used to tell me, their mouths are cleaner than any place on your body. Okay, that's good. And she'd dip her French fries in milkshake and share it with the dog. Okay, and then let her dog drink out of the milkshake. Okay, I'm not there, but you know, I do, I like dogs, all right. But when the dog comes in licking the master's fingers, that's the picture of worship. Well, you ever have one of these days when you're not in the mood to deal with the dog, and you kind of push the dog aside, the dog just comes back and looks at you, and you're like, all right, come here. That's the response. He, as it was, picks up on this. He said, it's not a fitting, meet, appropriate. It wouldn't be suitable. It's not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs. Ouch, this is test number three. And what is this test? I call this one the test of scorn. The test of scorn. It's like, you're just a pagan, you're a Gentile. Not my department. You ever heard people say, I don't know what good it does to pray. I prayed and this and this and this happened. Like, in other words, God's bad because I prayed and things fell apart. Have you ever considered that when you pray, there was another person in the realm of the ethereal, the unseen realm, who absolutely wants to oppose everything going on and will fight you? You remember when Job all of a sudden had everything go bad in his life? Whose fault was that? It wasn't God's fault. Well, he allowed it. And why did God allow it? Satan made a point of Job. Oh yeah, perfect upright man. Tell you what, you take away the blessings, he'll curse you to your face. In fact, you take away his health. Then forget it, it's all over. And what does the Lord say? You may, but here are the parameters. And in all this, Job did not sin with his lips. Now, did Job understand? He did not understand. Later on, he realizes, wait a minute, I've been faulting God. I've been saying, good work for me. I'd never been born. I rue the day I was born. And he regrets all that. But see, he did what we're doing. He's trying to figure this out from a human perspective. But I want to tell you, it wasn't God who was the cause of Job's sufferings. It was Satan. Remember this when you pray, there is a realm that is set against you getting your prayers answered. Remember Daniel praying and Gabriel said he was hindered for three weeks? Was it Michael or Gabriel? I was hindered for three weeks before I'd get through the Prince of Persia withstood me. There's a battle going on in the heavenlies. Understand that when you're praying. So there's gotta be persistence. All right, so his reluctance, despite a passionate plea. Here's another comment from Spurgeon. I really like the way he looked at this. He said, how hard his language. How unlike our Lord's usual self, yet how true, how unanswerable. Truly, it is not me to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs. The blessing sought here is like bread for children. And the Canaanites were no more members of the chosen family than so many dogs. Their heathen character made them like dogs as to uncleanness, that's sexual immorality. For generations, they'd known no more of the true God than the dogs which roam the streets. So Spurgeon is saying, was Jesus justified to call her a dog? Well, yeah, he'd be justified to call me one too. Because in God's sight, I got nothing to offer. But if you're her, what should you be thinking? I've thought of some people I knew that at this point, they'd have been like, that's it, if you're gonna talk to me that way, I'm done, I'm outta here. What does she do? Well, notice her resolution of persistent prayer. This would be number five, okay? Her resolution of persistent prayer. Verse 27, she said, truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Amen. Whoa. You know what the word truth is? Yea, verily, amen, that's so. You know why people say amen? Well, you know why people used to say amen? Because they mean I agree, that's good. I don't mind you saying amen, right? Amen means that's good, that's true, I affirm that. Jesus, amen, Lord, that's true. In other words, what he just said about me is true. Confessing means you agree with God about yourself. You're right, Lord, but, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table. Yeah, I'm nothing but a dog. Now, would it help you to know that for the term dog, he uses the term for puppies, little dogs. Oh, I'm sure that softened the blow, right? It really didn't matter. She said, you're right, but even dogs eat the crumbs which fall from the master's table. Not only is that a very restrained response, you know what's incredible to me? Basically, she's saying, I'm not asking you to deprive your people of anything. In fact, now what was the request? Please heal my demon-possessed daughter. She said, for you, this is just like scraps off the table. That's some big-time faith. Nothing for you to heal my demon-possessed kid. So what happens? Finally, the sixth of six. Number six is his reply to resolute reliance. Okay, wordy, sorry. His reply to resolute reliance. What's resolute mean? Well, you know the hymn, I Am Resolved? Gonna nail down the tent post right here, all right? This is gonna happen. His reply to resolute reliance, and what's reliance mean? Dependence. Dogged determination. Use the dog analogy. Okay, his reply to resolute reliance. Notice what he says in verse 28. Then Jesus answered and said to her, oh woman, great is thy faith. be it unto thee, even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. What happens? The demon-possessed kid gets healed. What's interesting? The daughter's not even with her. You read the other gospel account, she's back home. That led to my mind running wild, like, who's watching the kid? Can you imagine? I mean, some of you think you had some awful experiences being a babysitter. How about watching the demon-possessed child? Some of you are like, I've been there, I've done that, you know? You mean really watching the demon-possessed child? And then she's not even on location, and instantly, the child's healed. They don't have to be in the same room for Jesus to answer. You say, I got relatives, but they're in California, they're over in, you know, we're praying for Matt Herster, he's over there in Hong Kong, it's so far away. What's distance to God? That's nothing. his reply to resolute reliance. You know, go back to the slow, grow, et cetera. Okay, sometimes he says no, sometimes he says grow, sometimes he says slow. Sometimes God says slow, which means there may be many others involved. And he'll not violate the integrity of their own wills, so this means waiting. A.T. Pearson asked George Muller one time shortly before Muller died if he'd ever asked God anything that had not been granted. Muller explained how he'd been praying for 62 years for two men to be converted. I think those are the last two on that list we were talking about. For two men to be converted and neither of them had shown any signs of that happening. So Pearson asked him, well, do you expect God to convert them? He said, certainly. He said, do you suppose God would put on the heart of his child the burden of praying for two souls if he had no purpose of their conversion? He said, God didn't lay this burden on me for nothing. Shortly after the conversation, Mueller died. Dr. Pearson said, I was preaching this pulpit in Bristol, England. I referred to this. As I was going out, a lady said to me, one of the men that you referenced was my uncle. He was converted and died a few weeks ago. The other man was brought to Christ in Dublin, Ireland. Both men saved after Mueller died. Over 60 years praying. Finally, the word go. Best of all, sometimes God says go, which means that he's ready to supply what we ask, and then as we take each new step in confidence, we can receive. That's well said. Well, let me finish this. So it's amazing to me that there are only two times in the Bible, in the gospels, that Jesus commended somebody for having great faith. Okay, so this woman is a Gentile. One other guy, Jesus said, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And so he too was a Gentile. He was the Roman centurion. Isn't it interesting? Both times the Lord commends people who are pagans, Gentiles. That encourages me, because sometimes I think, I'm not George Mueller, I'm not Hudson Taylor, I'm just Rich Tozer. George Mueller didn't get answers to prayer because he was George Mueller. Hudson Taylor didn't get answers to prayer because he was Hudson Taylor. They got answers to prayer because Jesus Christ is Jesus Christ. Listen to this. My brother-in-law is a pastor, and he had given me this some years ago. It was from a book by David Jeremiah, Prayer of the Great Awakening, and it's an excerpt set in a time period right after World War II. Roger Sims, hitchhiking his way home, would never forget the date, May 7th. His heavy suitcase made Roger tired. He was anxious to take off his Army uniform once and for all. flashing a hitchhiking sign to an oncoming car. He lost hope when he saw it was a black, sleek, new Cadillac. To Roger's surprise, the car pulled over to the side of the road. The passenger door was pushed open. He ran toward the car, tossed his suitcase in the back seat, and then thanked the handsome, well-dressed man as he slid into the front seat. Going home for keeps, the man asked. Sure am, Roger replied. Well, you're in luck if you're going to Chicago. Roger said, well, not quite that far. Do you live in Chicago? I have a business there. My name is Hanover. After talking about many things, Roger, a Christian, felt a compulsion to witness to this 50-something, apparently successful businessman about Christ, but he kept putting it off till he realized he was now just 30 minutes from his house. It was now or never. So Roger decided to take the plunge. He cleared his throat and said, Mr. Hanover, I'd like to ask you something very important. He then proceeded to explain the plan of salvation, ultimately asking Mr. Hanover if he would like to receive Christ as his own savior. To Roger's astonishment, the Cadillac pulled over to the side of the road. He thought he was about to be ejected from the car. But instead, that businessman bowed his head and received Christ. He then shook Roger's hand. This is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me, he said. Five years went by. Roger got married, had a two-year-old boy, and a business of his own. Packing his suitcase for a business trip to Chicago, he found the small white business card that Hanover had given him five years earlier. In Chicago, he decided to look up Hanover Enterprises. Walking into the office, he found himself staring into the eyes of a receptionist who told him it would be impossible to see Mr. Hanover, but he could see Mrs. Hanover if he'd like. Little confused as to what was going on, he found himself ushered into an office facing a keen-eyed woman in her 50s. She extended her hand. You knew my husband, she asked. Well, Roger said, he gave me a ride home when I was hitchhiking back after the war. Can you tell me when that was, she asked. Oh, yes, he said, I sure can. May 7th, the day I was discharged from the army. May 7th. Anything unusual about that day, she asked. Roger hesitated. Should he mention his witness? Since he'd come so far, he thought he might as well take the plunge. Mrs. Hanover, you see, I'm a Christian. I explained the gospel to your husband. He pulled over to the side of the road. He wept against the steering wheel. He gave his life to Jesus Christ that day. Suddenly, explosive sobbing shook the woman's body. Getting a grip on herself, she said, I had prayed for my husband's salvation for years. I had believed that God would save him. Mrs. Hanover, where is your husband, he asked. He's dead, she said, now struggling with her words. He was in a car crash after he let you out of that car. He never got home that day. And then she said this, you see, I thought God had not kept his promise. And now fighting back the tears, she said, I stopped living for God five years ago because I thought that God had not kept his word. Wow. And in his kindness, God had sent to her the very man who had led her husband to Christ in his final hours. Think about this. What if Mrs. Hanover had never met Roger? She still would have seen her husband in heaven one day, but she'd have lived the rest of her life out of sorts with God. I could tell you numbers of stories like that. And I wanna tell you folks, God is good, even when you don't understand. Trust Him, pray, in fact, let God enroll you in the school of prayer. Would you bow your heads with me? Thank you for listening so well. Lord, we've talked about revival this morning. We talked about prayer and how prayer is the key to changing a wicked society and stubborn hearts and indifferent minds. Because prayer is us moving into the realm where we have no power, but you have all power. Please, dear Father, oh Lord, teach us to pray. Our heads are bowed, I just want to ask you this. How many of you would say, I needed that message tonight. Would you lift your hand? I needed that message. Okay. How many of you needed it because you have prayed and prayed and prayed and you kind of felt, or maybe you have not just felt tempted to, but you have given up on somebody and you said, I needed the, I needed the correction from God to get back at it. Anybody need it for that reason tonight? Yeah. How many of you said I needed it because I don't, I don't pray. I'm not in a regular habit of praying. Anybody need it for that reason? How many of you would say, I do pray, but I don't want to stay in grade school all my Christian life. I really want God to take me to the next class, the next grade. I really hunger to grow in my prayer life. Would you hold up your hand? That's what I needed, yeah. If you would, look up my way and let's stand together, okay? And I'll tell you what, I'm gonna give an invitation, and I don't think we'll sing if that's okay, Mike. See if Becky would play, and here's what we'll do. I want to give an invitation for this reason. Again, God resisted the proud. He giveth grace to the humble. You know, she came and she worshiped, dog licking the master's fingers. Why don't we get on our knees and pray? You can do it right there at your seat. You can come here to the altar. There's room at the front pews. But let's just bow our heads, and I'll ask her to play. And if God is prompting you about a specific need, would you come tonight as we go before him? Some of you can't kneel, I get it. If you can't kneel, maybe you can just sit or whatever you're able to do.