Help for a Tough Week

Know that many people are under regular verbal, psychological, and even physical assault. Even more important, know that you are under a spiritual attack. Over and over in a thousand ways, men and women and children are told that they are not valuable as persons. In so many ways, the glory and dignity of a person is taken away.

Trust God’s ultimate deliverance. Giving our life situation to God means that we trust him to be at work and to handle our problems. The way we pray, however, often leads us to discouragement. We believe that we know what God’s answer ought to be. Then we reason, “There is only one thing that God can do in this situation.” The answer must come now just in the way we have planned.

Consequently, we pray and then get completely frustrated. We pray for a loved one who has cancer and then dies. We pray for an adult child to become a Christian and it hasn’t happened. We get confused and exasperated and say, “Why didn’t God answer my prayer!”

I remember hearing a guy in the hospital say after his famsily member came through surgery successfully, “We knew that everything would be all right. We left it in God’s hand.” We can receive a successful surgery as an answered prayer. However, there are others who did prayed and their parent/spouse/child died. Leaving it in God’s hands is about giving the situation to God believing that whatever he does, it will ultimately be ok. It is not a guarantee that what we think ought to happen will happen.

Bring your helplessness before God. I like these lines from Ole Hallsby’s Prayer (p. 26),

I never grow weary of emphasizing our helplessness, for it is the decisive factor not only in our prayer life, but in our whole relationship to God. As long as we are conscious of our helplessness, we will not be overtaken by any difficulty, disturbed by any distress or frightened by any hindrance. We will expect nothing of ourselves and therefore bring all our difficulties and hindrances to God in prayer. And this means to open the door unto Him and to give God the opportunity to help us in our helplessness by means of the miraculous powers which are at His disposal.

Jesus once said, “Without me you can nothing” (Jn. 15:5). What is that but a simple recognition of our helplessness? Acknowledge to God over and over your helplessness.

What kind of week will you have? Whatever happens, bring your helplessness before God and know that in some way he will deliver.