Persistence. Mark's description of the woman's approach to Christ is to say (Mark 7.26) that she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. The verb tense used (imperfect) implies that she kept on begging, that she was persistent; that she would not stop. Matthew's version of the incident (Matt 15.23) makes this explicit. He writes: And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us (NASB).
The woman is persistent as Christ throws up several obstacles to her getting her request. She keeps on begging, because she is not going to be stopped by a few obstacles. We learn from this that faith requires persistence if it is truly faith. A "faith" that gives up at the first obstacle tossed in its way is no faith at all. This woman had a living, active faith that Christ could (and would) do what she asked.
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