{"id":26389,"date":"2019-09-05T03:30:52","date_gmt":"2019-09-05T10:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=26389"},"modified":"2019-08-30T12:26:55","modified_gmt":"2019-08-30T19:26:55","slug":"september-5-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2019\/09\/05\/september-5-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"September 5, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“Rejoice in our confident hope.\u00a0Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.”\u00a0<\/em>Romans 12:12<\/p>\n

Hope<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When I was talking with Floyd\u2019s and my friend, we reflected on the many, many people praying for us\u2014and how we haven’t seen the answers we hoped for. I’ve prayed lots of prayers, and I’ve seen answers to some things…but not everything. I believe the Lord has spoken some important guidelines to me.<\/p>\n

First<\/u>, I need to keep hope alive in my heart.\u00a0When we don’t get answers to our prayers\u2014especially when it’s over a long period of time\u2014it’s so easy to let that flickering flame of hope die out.\u00a0But I know I must keep the flame of hope burning brightly in my heart.<\/p>\n

I do that by worshiping God for who He is.\u00a0He hasn’t changed regardless of my circumstances. I also speak out His many promises from the Word.\u00a0Those haven’t changed!\u00a0I thank Him for all the prayers\u00a0He has answered<\/u>!<\/p>\n

Second<\/u>, I keep asking, keep praying the prayers that haven’t been answered yet.\u00a0It’s not wrong to keep asking.\u00a0Remember the widow who kept asking (Luke 18:4-7)? God doesn’t stop listening because we’re asking for the 100th time.\u00a0We can continue to come boldly to His throne!<\/p>\n

Third<\/u>,\u00a0I must be on guard to not lose my trust in God.\u00a0I can’t allow that trust to be shaken by whether or not my every prayer is answered.\u00a0God is not a butler that we have on call!\u00a0He sees the big picture and knows how and when to answer our prayers\u2014or not answer them if He has another plan. I can look back over my life now and be grateful that God didn’t answer all my prayers!<\/p>\n

I heard about a man who prayed for someone and saw the person raised from the dead. It was a mighty miracle. People all around knew about it.\u00a0Then his wife became ill with cancer.\u00a0She wasn’t healed, and she eventually died. It’s hard to understand.\u00a0Why was one raised from the dead…and then his own wife died?<\/p>\n

For me, this is where trust comes in. I don’t understand everything, but I can choose to trust when I don’t have the answers and it doesn’t seem to make sense. We live in a fallen world, and we’re impacted by that fallenness. I can trust the One who sees and understands it all.<\/p>\n

I was watching a movie recently about Winston Churchill. He said, “Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is courage to continue that counts.”<\/p>\n

\u201cLord, grant us courage to continue in our hope, prayer, and trust! Be glorified in us. In Jesus\u2019 Name, Amen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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