Praying through Trouble

Almost all of us have been in trouble. Many of us have been in a spot where we didn’t want to be and asked God to intervene. So it was with Jonah, the prophet of God in Jonah 2.

Jonah had made the decision he didn’t want to do what God called him to do so he ran away. Once the sailors on the boat where Jonah had hidden realized the storm they were enduring was because of Jonah, they began to question Jonah.

Like the sailors, so many of us have been in a storm. We would have never chosen to be going through the thing we are enduring in the moment. We didn’t want to be questioning our faith and the reality of God in our life. We never dreamed our marriage would have turned impassionate. We never thought we would be jobless. Or fighting some chronic illness. We would never have dreamed our adult children would have turned away from Jesus and are now making poor life choices.

Jonah would have never thought he’d be in the belly of a huge fish. It was not punishment but provision from God. Jonah would have rather wanted something else but we recognize, God doesn’t always give us what we want. He certainly gives us what we need.

In Jonah 2, Jonah begins to pray to God for deliverance. He remembered he needed the Lord. Jonah put his hope in his Heavenly Father. Unfortunately sometimes, we put our hope in other things like the stock market, our bank account, our spouse, our intellect or university degrees or someone we follow on our social media account. But many of us have realized nothing will help us or save us except the Lord God Almighty.

So Jonah prays. James, the half-brother of Jesus, says in James 5:13, “If any of you are in trouble, you should pray.” And that could not ring truer. We are called to interact with our Heavenly Father on a regular basis through prayer. In Jonah 2:2-9, Jonah lifts his voice to God but we discover nothing happens until the end of chapter two. This is a huge encouragement to you and me because I get frustrated with God’s timing. But he is always telling me the He knows better…just be patient.

So, Jonah is praying on day 1. Then he’s praying on day 2. Finally he keeps praying on day 3. And someone reading this needs to realize this truth. While you’re waiting, God is still working. Just because you don’t see anything doesn’t mean God isn’t still on his throne.

Jonah 2:9 is a great reminder as well. Jonah prays, “My salvation comes from the LORD.” That is spot on for all of us, isn’t it? Jonah was running from God. He didn’t deserve saving but God saved him. When we didn’t deserve it, God sent his Son, Jesus, to be with us and die for us. We all need the grace of God in our lives. We all need Jesus to remove our sin, our disgrace, our “running away” spirit. We need Jesus to take on our guilt and shame and so that we can live triumphantly in the unconditional love of our God.

So pray and keep praying that God will do wonders in your life as you make a daily decision to follow Jesus. Blessings on your journey.

Advancing in Your Spiritual Life

As I was watching the Super Bowl last night, a thought occurred to me. As I observed the defensive strategy for both the Chiefs and the 49ers, they tend to be more concerned about stripping the ball from the player’s hands even more than tackling them to the ground. In fact, defensive teams are taught to always try to strip the ball from the player while they are taking them down as to cause a fumble (and there were at least two last night). They know that if they can get the ball out of the player’s hands there is a good chance they can recover the ball and cause a turnover.

I think our defensive opponent, the enemy against us, tries to follow the same tactic. He wants to strip us of all the things God wants us to hold near and dear. We know this because the Apostle Peter brought it to our attention thousands of years ago.

1 Peter 5:8 (NIV) “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

Jesus also tells us about this challenge we all face:

John 10:10 (NIV) “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Our enemy wants to steal the dreams, desires, and destiny you and I have. And he is relentless in his pursuit of it. He is constantly trying to strip them out of our hands and cause a turnover in our future. In fact, he is more interested in causing you to fumble than he is in taking you down. What I mean by that is, he works on discouraging you more than deceiving you. Most people that are followers of Christ don’t necessarily struggle with a belief in God, they are not considering being atheist. Rather their struggle is being discouraged, they easily fumble the purpose and promises of God from their heart. And in doing so they are missing out on gaining spiritual yardage in their life. They are not turning their back on God by being deceived, rather, they are turning their attention on their fears by being discouraged.

So how do we, as followers of Christ, keep ourselves guarded against being stripped of God’s purposes?

Hold The Promises of God Tightly

Every football player knows that when you get the ball you hold on for dear life. You tuck it in as close as you can to your body to secure it from being stripped. In the same way, we have to learn how to keep God’s promises close to our heart and not give up on them even when things don’t appear to be going as planned. Remember, we are to walk by faith and not by sight as Paul reminds us all in his writing of first Corinthians.

Surround Yourself With Blockers

One of the best ways to help ensure you don’t get tackled is to surround yourself with people that will block the enemy from you. This means we need to surround ourselves with life-giving people who will be there for us. We were created for community and we operate best in community. It’s vital that you have relationships in your life that will help you, inspire you, challenge you, and encourage you. They are the blockers in your life that help you move down the field.

Be Focused On The Goal Not Your Problems

You can’t score points if you’re only trying not to get tackled. The goal of football is to get the ball in the end zone, not to simply survive from being hurt. If we are only focused on playing it safe we’ll never reach our potential. You have to keep your eyes on the prize as you move down the field of life. Don’t worry about the tacklers and the enemy, keep moving forward. Where your focus goes your energy flows.

So, focus on your spiritual game. Run the race in such a way as to win, throwing off everything that hinders. Focus on Jesus the perfecter of our faith. May God go with you this week and give you multiple opportunities to score for him! And, Go Chiefs! Blessings on your journey.