Sunday, June 21, 2020

A prayer on Sunday ~ June 21


Today's prayer was written during my study of Finding God's Path Through Your Trials.  This book by Elizabeth George is life-changing.  I have worked through the study three times -- twice on my own, and once with my ladies' Sunday School class.  As you can see, even the cover of my copy is looking a bit dog-eared.  If you never read this book, you need to.  I've heard it said that every believer is either going through a trial, just coming out of a trial, or getting ready to go into a trial.  Not to mention, our whole world is experiencing some major trials right now.

Here's one of the prayers I wrote during my studies of this book:

"LORD,

I do thank You for how You work in our lives through trials.  I thank You for the lessons You are teaching me through my current trials.  Thank You for helping me to understand that trials are a part of life and that I can count them as joy because You have a good purpose in them.

Lord, I know that You allow trials in our lives to test the reality of our faith, and I praise You that my faith is passing the test.  Help me, Lord, to develop staying power, as this is an area where I really need to grow.  Help me to continue steadfast in my trials and to cooperate with Your good plan, no matter how long the trials last.

I praise You, Lord, that Your strength is made perfect in my weakness.  Help me to count on Your power and draw on Your might, through every moment of each trial.

Lord, I pray that You will help me to stay in my trials, walking through them in Your strength while I wait for You to work.  I praise You for all that You are doing in my life!

In Jesus' name,
Amen."

It's interesting to me, as I look back on some of the hardest times in my life, to see how God did just what I was asking for in the second paragraph: He helped me to develop staying power.  Not that I've "arrived" in this, or in any other area, but my staying power has definitely increased over what it was.  There were times when I thought particular trials would never pass -- and indeed they have not gone away completely -- yet by God's grace (and only by God's grace) I was able to remain in them.  Now I can look back and say that part of the purpose for those trials was surely to help me gain staying power and to grow in emotional stability.

There are some trials, of course, that we may not understand the purpose of in this life.  We may never comprehend just why God allows some things to happen.   Yet as the old Gospel song reminds us, "farther along we'll know all about it."  We can cling to the fact that God does have a purpose in all that He allows, and His purposes are always good.

6 comments:

  1. That book is a winner and I have many things underlined as well. I can't recommend it enough and think of you each time I look at it. I was talking to my husband yesterday as went out on the boat to just give me some quiet down time. I have a full plate right now in this season of life. I have more blessings than problems though an we had a good talk. He reminded me much of life is just managing things. I am working on keeping the good in the forefront and dealing with as I can the trials, but letting them go when I have done all I can.

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  2. Love this blog. Loved my magazine I ordered from your shop. Alas, I was not able to post a review as I have mo online social media/blogger, etc.
    DO you ever get vintage journals that are not too difficult to read/diaries///

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  3. So very true that He is testing us not because He needs to know how we are doing, but because we need to know how unshakable our faith is. Yours is holding; mine is a bit wonky. Still I trust Him to see me through. As the song thirty years ago went...there's nothing more I can do, Jesus did it all.

    Hope that Mr. T is having a splendid Father's Day!

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    1. Mr. T did indeed have a wonderful Father's Day. We had coffee and pastries at the south rim of the Grand Canyon that morning, with some of our grandkids and our daughter. ��


      Back in Nevada now, things have become a bit more restrictive than back in NH, but we're managing. Trying to get our plane tickets changed to a day earlier, but it hasn't worked out so far.

      Keep your eyes firmly fixed on the Author and Finisher of our faith, dear one. He is able!

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  4. God's strength and presence have helped me get through incredibly difficult days. I'm so glad that He is unshakeable and ever faithful, for I am not.

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    1. Amen, Lorrie. I so agree. Thanks for sharing from your heart. 💚

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