CM26 | T7AM | Camp Meeting |Keep Pressing for Your Blessing!

Devotional

Day 1: Twelve Years of Bleeding, Still Reaching

This woman’s relentless pursuit of Jesus through a decade of failed solutions mirrors our own seasons of unresolved pain. Her story reminds us that longevity in suffering doesn’t disqualify us from miracles—it refines our desperation for Christ. When human efforts drain us dry, Jesus remains the only source of wholeness. Her trembling hand, outstretched through the crowd, models the raw faith God honors even when we feel invisible. Healing begins when we stop negotiating with broken systems and reach for the hem. [30:49]

“And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.”
(Mark 5:25-26, NIV)

Reflection: What “twelve-year struggle” in your life has persisted despite your efforts? How might Jesus be inviting you to shift from self-reliance to desperate faith today?

Day 2: When Doctors Make It Worse

Not all help is helpful. The woman’s worsening condition after years of medical treatments exposes the danger of leaning on flawed systems. Jesus doesn’t shame her wasted resources but redirects her to true healing. Our stubborn trust in broken solutions—relationships, addictions, half-truths—often deepens our wounds. Freedom comes when we admit our strategies have failed and turn to the One who needs no experiments to restore us. [36:16]

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
(James 1:5, NIV)

Reflection: Where have you stubbornly followed bad advice or harmful patterns? What would it look like to ask God for discernment instead?

Day 3: Elbowing Through the Crowd of Doubt

The miracle didn’t happen until she pressed through voices saying, “He’s too busy” and “You’re too unclean.” Distractions still swarm—church hurt, financial stress, others’ opinions—but they’re just noise. Her focus on Jesus’ fringe, not the crowd’s judgment, teaches us to tunnel-vision on Christ’s power. Deliverance waits on the other side of our willingness to offend propriety for the sake of touch. [39:27]

“When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.’”
(Mark 5:27-28, NIV)

Reflection: What “crowd” of doubts or distractions most often blocks your access to Jesus? Name one practical step to push through it this week.

Day 4: Forgiveness Before the Fountain Dries Up

Unresolved bitterness is a tourniquet on blessings. Like the cancer patient whose healing hinged on forgiving a debt, we often clutch grievances tighter than we grasp Jesus. God’s power flows freely when we release what poisons us. The woman’s public confession—“she told him the whole truth”—unlocked her “go in peace.” Miracles multiply in the soil of surrendered grudges. [43:18]

“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
(Mark 11:25, NIV)

Reflection: Is there an unpaid “debt”—emotional or relational—you’ve refused to release? How might unforgiveness be blocking your healing?

Day 5: “Daughter”—The Surrender That Unlocks Peace

Jesus didn’t commend her technique or theology but her faith—the guts to act on belief. Her healing was instant, but her peace came only after she fell trembling before Him. We want solutions; God wants surrender. The title “Daughter” reframed her identity from “unclean” to “known.” Our breakthroughs stick when we exchange our afflictions for His affirmation. [48:31]

“He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.’”
(Mark 5:34, NIV)

Reflection: Are you seeking Jesus more for what He can fix than for who He is? What would it look like to trust His heart before demanding His hand?

Sermon Summary

Mark 5 stands up and tells the truth about life and God. A certain woman bleeds for twelve years, and her story names what God’s people know but do not like to say out loud. Trouble comes, even to church folks in their Sabbath best. Long storms linger. Some prayers land fast, some seem to hang in the air. The text refuses make-believe religion and pulls the veil back on real affliction, heavy hearts, and delayed answers. Yet the same text keeps saying what must be said again and again. God has been faithful then, God is faithful now, and God is faithful always.

The woman shows what to do when the systems are spent and the advice is bad. Physicians experiment and the condition grows worse, which exposes a larger problem. Borrowed strategies, hand-me-down counsel, and crowd noise cannot fix a soul. Wisdom is available to all who ask, so the call is to stop running everywhere and finally go to Jesus.

The crowd becomes the image of everything that blocks access to Christ. People press, needs shout, church politics buzz, bills pile up. The woman does not let the crowd set her future. She keeps pressing for her blessing. She reaches through the noise and touches the hem. Immediately her body knows what her heart had already decided. Healing meets faith in motion, not in neutral.

Jesus stops and looks. Power goes out, not by accident but by consent. He refuses to leave her with a secret cure and a public stigma. He brings her into the open, not to shame her but to seal her peace. “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your affliction.” Faith and surrender sit together here. Faith reaches. Surrender yields. Together they open the door.

The call to the church is plain. Stop playing while the times are not playing. Lay down the distractions, the grudges, the fancy mamby pamby prayers that tell God nothing true. Speak straight to God. Name the pain. Make things right where they are wrong. Then trust and obey. Even in the midnight hour, keep pressing. Joy still knows the way to morning.

Key Takeaways

1. Troubles visit even the faithful Suffering does not mean God forgot. Church attendance, a sharp outfit, and a steady devotional life do not purchase immunity from affliction. The text dignifies pain by naming it and insists that nothing in a believer’s life ever surprises God. Since God knows, God is equipped to meet it. [31:24]
2. Long battles require stubborn belief Some answers take years, and some saints die believing before the fruit shows up. Faith refuses to measure God’s faithfulness by today’s outcome and keeps praying over prodigals and impossible cases. Perseverance is not denial, it is allegiance to God’s character over the calendar. Keep pressing for the blessing that outlasts delay. [33:50]
3. Unforgiveness strangles answered prayer Unresolved heart business can choke what God is eager to give. Forgiveness is not forgetting the debt, it is surrendering the right to revenge so the soul can breathe again. When the inside is cleared, prayer finds new air and healing often flows in ways that shock the room. Make it right, then ask big. [43:18]
4. Push past crowds to Christ The crowd looks like stress, money pressure, job demands, and church hurt. If the crowd gets to decide, Jesus stays out of reach. Single-minded pursuit is not rude, it is survival, because the answer needed does not live in the crowd. Reach through, touch the hem, and let power meet hunger. [39:39]
5. Faith and surrender unlock peace Jesus names her “daughter” and links wellness to faith, then sends her out in peace. Faith takes hold, surrender lets go, and together they clear the lane for grace. This is not passive; it is active trust, honest prayer, and yielded obedience. Where faith moves and surrender yields, peace abides. [48:31]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[23:29] - Joy check and praise
[25:10] - Not normal times named
[26:20] - God is not playing, stop playing
[27:14] - Tools for life and glory
[27:43] - Mark 5 text and theme
[28:45] - Twelve years, trouble is universal
[33:17] - Some answers take years
[36:16] - Discernment over bad advice
[39:09] - Push through the crowd to Jesus
[40:31] - Unforgiveness blocks blessing
[45:13] - Pray honest, not fancy, prayers
[46:50] - God’s timely provision testimony
[47:57] - Faith and surrender, go in peace
[50:43] - Do not give up, keep pressing

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Mark 5:25-34 (ESV)
25 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

Observation Questions

What specific actions did the woman take to reach Jesus, and what immediate result followed (Mark 5:27-29)?
How did Jesus respond when the woman touched His garment, and why did His reaction surprise the disciples (Mark 5:30-32)?
In the sermon, what examples were given of "crowds" that might block people from seeking Jesus today? [39:39]

Interpretation Questions

Why do you think Jesus insisted on publicly identifying the woman instead of letting her remain anonymous (Mark 5:30-34)? How does this relate to the idea of "sealing her peace" mentioned in the sermon? [30:06]
The sermon emphasized that "borrowed strategies" and "crowd noise" cannot fix a soul. How do the woman’s 12 years of failed solutions (Mark 5:26) illustrate this principle?
What does Jesus calling her "daughter" (Mark 5:34) reveal about His view of those who persistently seek Him, even in messy or stigmatized situations?

Application Questions

The woman’s healing came after 12 years of struggle. What area of your life requires "stubborn belief" right now, and what practical step can you take to keep pressing forward? [33:50]
The sermon warned that "unresolved heart business" can block blessings. Is there a relationship or situation where you need to surrender the right to revenge or bitterness? How might addressing this free your prayers? [43:18]
What distractions or "crowds" (stress, busyness, past hurts) are currently making it hard for you to focus on Jesus? Name one action to push past them this week. [39:39]
The woman’s honest desperation led her to Jesus. How could praying more authentically—naming your pain, frustration, or doubt—deepen your trust in God’s faithfulness? [44:55]
The sermon urged believers to "trust and obey" even in darkness. What practical habit (e.g., scripture memorization, worship music, serving others) could help you cling to God’s character during a delayed answer? [49:42]

Sermon Clips

43s

#PushThroughToJesus

“Verse 26 to 27 taught me that you will only be able to touch Jesus when you push through all the distractions. Had the lady allowed the crowd to block her from Jesus, she would have never received her blessing. me say that again. Had the lady allowed the crowd to block her, she would have never received her blessing. And let me just say this to you here South Atlantic campers. Never let anyone or out of the church keep you away from Jesus.”

38s

#GodNotSurprised

“But here's the thing that I want you to know. I want you to know that that that there is nothing in your life that has caught God by surprise. I say that again? There is nothing in your life that has caught God by surprise and therefore there's no issue in your life that God is not equipped to deal with. Because God has always been faithful. He has been faithful then, he's faithful now, and he's faithful always.”

33s

#DieBelieving

“I'm gonna say something to you that you may you may appreciate or you may not but but it's the truth. For some of you you'll be praying for your child and praying for your family and you may die not seeing that promise but you better die believing. Can I say that again pastor Harold to the parents? There are some of you you're praying for your children and up until you're dying bed you may not see the manifestation of your prayers but you gotta die still believing.”

32s

#EveryoneFacesStruggles

“For you it might be some other disease or finances or family problems but everybody will suffer affliction at some point in time. And here's the thing, it doesn't matter how faithfully we attend church. It doesn't matter how good our outfits look. It doesn't matter how much we read or how much we study or even how much we pray. No matter what you do, if you live long enough somewhere in life, you are going to experience difficulties.”

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CM26 | T7AM | Camp Meeting |Keep Pressing for Your Blessing! | Pastor Sean Anderson