Rising To The Challenge

Hello, this is Matt Slick from the Matt Slick Live Podcast, where I defend the Christian faith and lay out our foundations of the truth of God's Word. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network.

This is the Truth Network. Encouraging prayer. God offers an open invitation for his people to talk with him at any time about anything. On Encouraging Prayer, Dr. James Banks, author of the bestselling Prayers for Prodigals and many other books on prayer, provides weekly biblical insight to help you learn to love to pray. And now, here's James.

Welcome to today's Encouraging Prayer. I'm Carmen Ramirez, and I'm standing in for Robby today on the Truth Network, while Robby is away on vacation. James, let's start with something I just found out about you, that you're a beekeeper.

Yes, I am. I'm a novice beekeeper, but I, you know, do my best, and I really like it. And one of the reasons I do is that few things challenge you, like going into a hive of thousands of bees that really are too thrilled about you being there.

Yeah, no thank you, but I get it. It's good to have things that challenge us to step up in ways we normally wouldn't. I guess it's like the old saying, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I think that's a great way to put it, Carmen, because, you know, let's face it, life is full of moments like that, moments where we might not know, you know, what we have in us. And unless we push ourselves, we'll just stay stuck in the same place, and we'll never gain new strength, and we need, you know, we need to grow stronger, and God, I believe, wants us to and will help us as we turn to Him. That's so true. When you're in school, it's the toughest teachers who often end up being the best ones, but you may not feel that way at the time.

Oh yeah, that's right. And God is the best teacher, and He's prepared us to face moments like this in so many in so many places in His Word. And I want to talk about that with our listeners today, because I know some of them are going through tough times, and they need the encouragement that only God can give, and they need to know how to face that, how to go through that. And prayer makes all the difference in this, because, again, it's through prayer that we really put God's Word into practice in our lives, and then bring that power into our lives so that, you know, we can be stronger than ever before. So where would you like to start? A few verses that can just really help when times are tough, and just how we can pray them.

And here's the first that it's probably one that comes to mind to a lot of people. Philippians 4 13, I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. And that verse isn't saying that we can do anything, you know.

It's not saying that we can do anything we want. It's basically saying we can get through anything, you know. We can go through it with God on our side, and the best way to do that in any moment is to just turn to Him, you know. Whenever you're going through it, I can do all things through you.

I can do this through you, Lord. You know, your strength, not mine, your strength, not mine, is a great way to pray. And I sincerely believe that God pours power into us as we pray like that.

He comes alongside of us through His Spirit and helps us and blesses us when we pray like that. I believe that, too. It's a way of worshiping God, isn't it, when you're in the middle of something tough?

Yeah, yeah, it really is. And so here's another one. Think of what David said when he faced Goliath, I come against you in the name of the Lord of heaven's armies. You know, you're coming up against something that you know is clearly evil and the battle is on. That's just a great thing to pray in your heart, you know. I'm coming against this in the name of the Lord of heaven's armies. It's a way of reminding ourselves of who's with us, calling on Him for help at the same time.

How about another one? Okay, well, Psalm 31 24, be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord. It's a lot like what God tells Joshua in Joshua 1 7, be strong and very courageous.

And again, this is like talking to ourselves. We may say that, but we're talking to God at the same time, because again, we're welcoming Him into the moment and we're going through it with Him. So if I'm going through something tough and I'm praying, be strong and very courageous, it's like I can pray that way because I know God is watching me. He's watching over me. He's got me. Again, it's like David is doing when he says, I come against you in the name of the Lord.

It's all about being under Him in the moment. That's so good. How about some more? Okay, well, another great one is Psalm 23, 23 one, the Lord is my shepherd.

I have everything I need. You know, think about that when you're facing an illness and you don't know how things are going to turn out. Just praying that opens the door to the peace God wants to give us in unexpected places. And here's another one that works really well for those moments when you're facing a tough project and trying to get it done. Paul's words in Colossians 3 23, whatever you do, work at it with all your heart is working for the Lord.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart is working for the Lord. You know, it's as if to say this is for you, Lord. But again, there are so many more. But wait, there's more.

Yeah, there is. I mean, we need to get into God's Word and write these down and bring them out into life. Like David's words in Psalm 27 one, the Lord is the strength of my life, or Nehemiah 8 10, the joy of the Lord is your strength. Just take a prayer like that and, or a verse like that and make it your own. The joy of the Lord is my strength. You know, or you Lord, you're my joy, you're my strength. Or how about Jesus' words in Acts 1 eight, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. That's a great reminder to pray, Lord, give me your power. You know, fill me more. Give me more of your spirit. What a great way to pray whenever we face a problem. It really is.

Yeah. And this matters so much because we're to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, as Romans 12 two tells us. And the more we think this way and pray this way, the more we'll find we're standing in God's strength and not our own. And it doesn't mean things will be easy. But it does mean that we'll find help that we wouldn't have any other way.

And so often we miss that. Just think of Psalm 120, verse one, I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me. Again and again, we see this this kind of thing in God's word. And while we've gone over a lot of verses, there are so many more that we just need to find for ourselves and let God help us with them, and turn them into prayer in our own lives.

Make them part of our thoughts, you know, or every moment. And by the way, I, a lot of these prayers you'll also find in my book. So here's a shameless plug, praying the prayers of the Bible. That's awesome. Thanks, James. I see we're about to run out of time. So would you finish things with a prayer today?

Glad to do it. Let's pray. Father, help us in this help us to love your word and just bring it to life in our prayers.

Because Oh, you move through it and you give us strength through your spirit. Jesus, help us stay close to you and turn to you, our Savior, our strength, our help. In your name we pray. Amen. You can hear more from Pastor James by visiting his website, jamesbanks.org, or by visiting Peace Church in Durham, North Carolina. May God bless you and encourage you as you pray. This is the Truth Network.