Here I Am Going Around Thesame Thing Again God What Do I Do
There is zero like physical pain to drive y'all to your knees in prayer. For twenty years, I was plagued by crippling dorsum pain and sciatica. Time after time, I cried out to God for his healing ability on my body, but nothing improved. Fifty-fifty as a prayer warrior, I grew weary in going to God about the same thing twenty-four hour period in and twenty-four hour period out.
One of the hardest challenges of the Christian walk is waiting for God to answer our prayers when we urgently demand him to intervene in a circumstance that is breaking our heart, testing our faith, and robbing u.s.a. of peace and joy. I have been on my knees many times with my Bible in hand, tearfully reminding God of his promises when my husband and I were in a financial crunch, a friend was stricken with a life-threatening disease, or i of my children was in trouble.
Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They volition run and not get tired, They volition walk and not get weary.—Isaiah 40:31 (NASB)
And for years, many of my prayers take been centered on my own need for a miracle. In 2017, after 20 years of pain, I had back surgery to united nations-pinch my spinal cord, supplant deteriorated discs, and straighten my back. The surgery was the reply to my prayers in many ways. I am grateful every twenty-four hours that I can now walk without leg hurting and practise many of the things I love, similar working in my garden, standing long enough to broil cookies with my granddaughter, and traveling to speak for Earth Vision. However, the trauma to the fretfulness in my back is taking much longer to heal, and I proceed to weep out to God.
Of course, compared to the suffering in many parts of this cleaved globe, my pain is nothing. My middle is often broken by stories near the ongoing hunger crunch in East Africa, the Syrian refugee crisis, and the hatred and violence that seems to be affecting so many. These are problems that only God tin solve by changing people's hearts and minds. But he calls united states to participate past giving what we tin can to those in demand and praying without ceasing, because prayer is our greatest weapon confronting the powers and principalities of this world — that Paul talks most in Ephesians 6:12 — which are at the root of today'south suffering.
Like the healing of my dorsum and other situations my family unit has faced, some prayers take time to fully materialize. As Psalm 40 says, sometimes nosotros have to wait for God's timing, and it is not unusual to feel what I phone call "intercession fatigue" when we are true-blue to pray, but nothing seems to be happening. One of the greatest challenges we face equally Christians is standing to believe for a miracle when all indications are "it just own't happening."
So, if you tire as y'all continue crying out to the Lord, here are a few suggestions that have helped me continue to expect my miracle fifty-fifty when all God seems to be maxim is "wait."
i. Take time to remember how much God loves you and those you are praying for.
God's beloved is at the root of all promise and, when we truly love someone, we will practise anything for them. This is how God cares for u.s.a.. Humans are created in his paradigm, which ways we go our capacity to beloved and feel pity from him. In Matthew vii:9-11, nosotros read that God wants to give us good things. So, we can be confident when we pray that God hears us and wants practiced things for the states, those we dearest, and for all his cosmos.
2. Remember all the ways God has been faithful in the past.
Organized religion is a living expression that grows as nosotros cartel to put it into activeness. So, if we have time to remember all the miraculous ways he has answered our prayers in the past, we will find new courage and hope for the future — and our faith will abound.
3. Pray the Word.
Scripture gives usa the dominance to merits our miracle whether information technology is concrete healing, reconciliation with a friend or loved i, financial provision, wisdom at work, or even something every bit seemingly impossible as world peace. Every situation imaginable has an applicable promise in the Bible. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Word of God is live and active, and so let God's own words be your argument before his Throne of Grace.
4. Be comfy not knowing what to pray.
1 of my greatest frustrations when I pray is that, while I can identify the problem, I have no idea how to fix it. So, I am uncertain how to pray. That is when I claim Romans viii:26 which says, "In the same way, the Spirit helps u.s.a. in our weakness. We do not know what nosotros ought to pray for, merely the Spirit himself intercedes for u.s. through wordless groans" (NIV). God doesn't demand our words to know our hearts, and he is faithful to answer even our unspoken requests.
5. Invite others to pray with yous.
We all have times when we are just too tired or discouraged to keep praying, and nosotros need others to come aslope to support united states of america. Even Moses — who led the Israelites out of Egypt — needed a little help from his friends. Exodus 17 tells u.s.a. near a time when the Israelites were in a great battle. As long equally Moses held up his hands, they won. But when he let them downwardly, they began to lose. Verse 12 tells usa how when Moses' arms grew tired, Aaron and Hur brought a stone for him to sit on, and they stood beside him and each held up an arm. We all need Aarons and Hurs in our lives. My family prayed for 15 years before we saw a loved one delivered from drug addiction. And I have to say, at that place were times when I just laid on the floor and let my tears do the talking. I needed trusted friends to pray when I could not. Together we fought the battle and won!
6. Find peace in surrendering to God's will.
When we feel similar nosotros are running on spiritual fumes, and our spiritual life is beginning to sputter, it may be time to give in, not up. Sometimes we are and then determined to win the boxing we're facing that we forget to inquire God if nosotros are praying in his will. Paul gives us a great instance of this kind of spiritual surrender to God's program in 2 Corinthians 12:six-viii. Three times he prayed virtually a "thorn in the mankind" that bothered him. God eventually answered, saying that his grace "is sufficient," and this weakness stayed with the apostle. It brought him to a point of recognizing that God'southward power works through our weaknesses. I have to confess that there have been times when I realized that while I was waiting for God to answer my prayers, he was waiting for me to "requite in" to his will.
7. Worship God.
Finally, I volition finish with the best medicine I know to gainsay intercession fatigue: Rejoice in the Lord, always. I will say information technology again: Rejoice! (Philippians four:4, NIV). The journeying is only as of import as what nosotros're praying for, so while nosotros expect, nosotros should praise God for who he is and all the good things he has, is, and will practise.
Pray with us for Globe Vision's work effectually the world.
Marilee Pierce Dunker travels the world as an ambassador for World Vision, the organization her father, Bob Pierce, founded in 1950. Similar he did, she shares stories, pictures, and personal reflections, bearing witness to the extraordinary ways God is using his people to share the gospel and treat the poor.
Visit Globe Vision's Speakers Bureau site to asking Marilee or some other World Vision speaker to present at your upcoming event.
Source: https://www.worldvision.org/christian-faith-news-stories/dont-give-up-your-miracle-how-to-pray-when-tired