Tag: Waiting

8—God Promises to Give You Strength

Do you sometimes think you don’t have the strength to go on? So many things sap our strength, such as illnesses, hardships, depression, stress, disappointments, too many tasks, etc. The solution for enduring troubling issues is easy, but doing it is hard. It is human nature to try to overcome and solve besetting issues in our power, which saps our strength. The solution is to submit to God everything that troubles you. Submitting your troubles to God involves admitting you need God’s help and strength, then letting God take care of your issues, which is hard to do. Psalm 68:35 states, “Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God!”

Find Strength in God

Ephesians 6:10 tells us, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” God’s might gives us strength to endure and stand firm against our enemy, who causes most of our troubles. According to 1Chronicals 16:11, you find power when you are in the presence of God through continually praying, praising, and pondering His promises.“Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!” Also, claim Habakkuk 3:19, which says, “GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.” Have you lost hope? Find your strength and hope to scale the mountains in your life through God’s might, not your useless attempts to be strong. Do you find yourself depressed? Pray and seek God to give you hope and strength to endure the issue sapping your energy.

Strength in Waiting

Sometimes we must wait and seek God for the strength to endure the issues we are facing. When you seek Him, the key to receiving power is to give God an offering of thanksgiving and praise, knowing He keeps His promises. Isaiah 40:31 proclaims, “but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” When you feel weak, especially as you follow, honor, and serve God, trust His promises to strengthen the weak and faint. The hard part is waiting to receive God’s promise. It is equally hard to give thanks in all circumstances, which is God’s will (1Thes 5:18).

Know that you are God’s workmanship (Eph. 2:10), and He is shaping you through tough times to reflect His image (Rom. 8:28-29). Also, adversity causes your faith to become stronger so you can have the strength to endure troubles and temptations. God also has a good work planned for each of us, and we all need to go through hardships to strengthen our faith and character. Claim God’s promise in Psalm 46:1-3 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 3though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.” God is our refuge and strength when we face grief and difficulties. Though it is hard to endure hardship patiently, we know we are being perfected when we patiently persevere (James 1:3-4). 

Trust God to Give You Strength

Trust is hard for us because we need to rely on God to keep His promises. Many of us have painful memories of disappointments when we relied on someone to do something, and they let us down. These painful memories often prevent us from trusting God. Read my short book on my website to learn how to heal painful memories. 2Corinthians 1:20 tells us, “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” We can trust God to keep His promises. By faith, we can speak into existence Psalm 28:7, “The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.” If you need strength and have none, you can call it into existence by believing and claiming God’s promises. Ponder the following Scriptures: “Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ‘I believed, and so I spoke,’ we also believe, and so we also speak” (2Corinthians 4:13). Also, “Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare [proclaim]; before they spring forth, I tell you of them” (Isaiah 42:9).

Strength for the Grieving

We lose our strength when grieving a loss or disappointment. Nehemiah 8:10b encourages us to “not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Not only do we find strength in God’s presence, but we also will have joy. Psalm 16:11 explains, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 73:26 states, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” What a wonderful promise.

Fulfilled Promises Bring Him Glory

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans in Romans 4:20-21 the following, “No unbelief made him [Abraham] waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” The Apostle Peter teaches his readers in 1Peter 4:11, “Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.”

Conclusion

We can only attain God’s strength when we seek His help and submit our troubles to Him. You also find strength when you remain in God’s presence through praying, praising, and pondering scriptures. Lastly, God promises to give you strength for His glory. I will end with one of my favorite scripture promises: 2Chronicals 16:9a, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.” To achieve a blameless heart, read my post called WHY HEAL YOUR HEART AND PURIFY YOUR SOUL? and Five Steps to Heal Your Heart and Purify Your Soul

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HOPE: How it Motivates and Inspires BUT God’s Sovereignty…

All verses are from the English Standard Bible. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share the links with your friends and family, at hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright protected, and no part of the posts or my book may be reproduced without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom.

If you find this website helpful, you will benefit from the latest book. You can order Breaking Mental Strongholds on Amazon.

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Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com, and ask for a PDF of Eight Life-changing Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, non-believers, 23rd Psalm, and victory. I will also send you the Lord’s Prayer Model to pray effectively. Please leave your name so I know you are a real person making the request.

Unanswered Prayers? Are You Turning God Off?

Have you ever wanted something you thought you had to have and you wanted it right away? We are the microwave society that wants instant results. When I was a teenager, I wanted a guitar so I could be cool like my friend Kelly.  I asked my Mom to give me one for Christmas, but I got a six-hole flute instead, go figure. I was so disappointed.  I now understand that my divorced mother was poor, and she could not afford to buy me a guitar. But, instead of telling me that, she said if I could playing the flute she would get me a guitar the next Christmas. Well, I practiced a lot of songs and gave her an audition, but still no guitar. Have you been disappointed when you didn’t get something you wanted? Many times, God does not give us the things we want right away.

James 4:3 states, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” Passion is a strong desire for what gives you pleasure. A passion is not always because of selfish pride. If the passion is for self-centered reasons, then it could be motivated by pride.  If the passion is zeal to do good and be God-centered or other-centered, then your motive is good. So, what is your motivation for asking God to give you what you desire? My motivation to play the guitar was from self-centered pride.  I bought a guitar many years later, and I had no musical ability to play it. God knew that, but I didn’t.

Reason 7: Pride Turns God Off.

Humble prayers are the prayers God answers. James 4:6b states, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” And, 1John 3:21-23 states, “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22) and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23) And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.”

The sin of pride blocks your prayers because pride keeps you from obeying God and loving others. To know if you have a self-centered pride issue, ask God to search your heart and examine your mind.  Jeremiah 17:9-10 explains, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it? 10) I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” And, Psalm 139:23 states, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!” Also, Obadiah 1:3a states, “The pride (arrogance) of your heart has deceived you, …”

Billy Graham believes, our motive for petitioning God must be humble. Suppose your prayer is self-centered and only concerned for the gratification of your own pleasures and passions. In that case, God cannot, in faithfulness, grant your requests.1 Another way our pride turns God off is how our pride wants immediate results and does not want to wait, but sometimes we have to wait for God’s perfect timing.

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Reason eight: Sometimes we have to wait?

God wants us to grow in our faith and character more than give us our desires.  Trials of temptations and adversity are necessary, so we can become stronger in our faith and character. Lamentations 3:25–26  states, “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait on the Lord quietly.” Dr. Lloyd-Jones believes that God sometimes delays His answer to deal with selfishness or things in our lives that should not be there.2

Isaac Breese believes that too often we look to prayer to solve all of our problems instead of focusing on meditation. We always feel the need to voice our concerns to God constantly telling him what we need forgetting that he already knows.3

Conclusion:

God hears the prayers of those who are humble and accepts a “no” or “wait” answer. A humble person waits patiently for His response. Often, we ask God for things that may not be good for us at the time or is His will for us. This post is the last in the series of why prayers go unanswered. To know all the reasons why God may not answer you prayers, read my previous posts:

Unanswered Prayer? Why?

Unanswered Prayer? Are You Connected?

Unanswered Prayer? Are You Presentable?

Unanswered Prayer? Doubt or Faith.

Unanswered Prayer? Asking For God’s Will or Your Will?

HOW TO PRAY USING THE LORD’S PRAYER AS A MODEL

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1. billygraham.org

2. Page 16, Lloyd-Jones D. M., (1987), Faith: tried & triumphant.  Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI

3. “It’s Not That God Didn’t Answer Your Prayers, It’s That You Didn’t Get The Response You Wanted” https://medium.com/publishous/its-not-that-god-didn-t-answer-your-prayers-it-s-that-you-didn-t-get-the-response-you-wanted-1b0bf4be9c24

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RELATED POSTS:

How I became free from pride:  The Core Negative Heart Issue

Anger Issues Protected by Pride and Judgmental Strongholds

Freedom from Impatience and Strongholds of Injustice and Unfairness

HOW PRIDE DESTROYS

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All verses are from the English Standard Bible. If you find my posts and website helpful, then please share the links with your friends and family, hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright protected and no part of the posts or my book may be reproduced without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom. 

Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com, and ask for a PDF of Eight Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, non-believers, 23rd Psalm, and victory. Please leave your name so I know you are a real person making the request.

P.S.: Experiencing a lasting change in your life depends on having a right relationship with God the Father through believing in His Son Jesus Christ and obeying His command to love (1 John 3).