Prayer for Hurting

"And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Corinthians 12:9)

There are three possible ways to pray when you are hurting: First, you pray that God will give you an escape from the pain. That's normal - in fact, that's how drug stores stay in business!

Second, you can pray for God to give you the strength to endure the pain. And that, too, is a natural response. If we can't escape the pain, we can pray to endure the pain.

Third, the way we  can pray is to ask God to enlist the pain in our lives for our good and His glory.

If we pray to escape our pain, then we see pain as our enemy. If we pray to endure our pain, then pain is seen as a master. But, if we pray to enlist our pain, we see it as our servant.

We are able to find God's grace to glory in our infirmities, that the power of God may be manifest in our lives.

Are you hurting over something that has happened in your life? Ask God to give you strength to choose to enlist that pain for your good and His glory.

~Adrian Rogers~
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"Now He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, an hath anointed us, is God" (2 Corinthians 1:21)

What will God do you you if you will allow Him? He will establish you. In other words, He will make you stable, steadfast, dependable, and unmovable so that you will not be blown about by every wind of doctrine. This verb is in the present participle, which means it is with continuing action. It doesn't mean that this is once and for all.

God is in the process of establishing you. Now, where is He establishing you? In Christ. He is moving you closer and closer to Christ the Rock of your salvation. When you are saved, God puts you into Christ and then day-by-day He moves you closer to Him.

Examine your walk with God. What specific things do you see in your life that indicate you are closer to God than you were a year ago, a month ago, a week ago, a day ago?

~Adrian Rogers~