Devotions

Most Christians don’t listen to God. They go to him only to talk! The scriptures reveal that any person who was ever used of God learned to remain in his presence until they heard from him.

Scripture makes it clear that the Lord wants to talk to every one of us. “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left” (Isaiah 30:21, NKJV).

I heard of a little girl suffering from leukemia who was struggling with the thought of dying. One morning when her mother came into her room, the girl was all aglow and happy. “What has happened to you?” her mother asked.

The little girl answered, “An angel came to me and said I was going on a trip. God came and took my hand and walked with me through a beautiful garden. He told me, ‘You’re coming here tomorrow to be with me.’“

God spoke to that little child and took all the pain and fear from her heart. When she left to be with him the next day, she had total peace. 

When you are intimate with Jesus, do you receive direction from him? Does he tell you what to do and when or how to do it? Some Christians don’t believe God does this, but Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice…and they follow me” (John 10:27).

In your trial, get alone with Jesus and cry, “Lord, you’re the only one who can help me. Only you know the way through this trial, so I’m going to stay here ‘till you tell me what to do.”

This is the kind of praying that is pleasing to God. It means stopping all activity. Only then will you hear him speak clearly to your heart: “You must make things right with this person.” or “Just stand still till next week. Don’t get in a hurry. Sit in my presence and trust me.” He will give you clear directions.

“Praying through” is a term coined by the early pentecostals. To some, it meant simply staying on your knees until you were assured you had an answer from God. To others, it meant continually coming back to the Lord until you had the answer in hand. This was also called “persevering in prayer.” 

As a young boy in those early camp meetings, I heard people testify, “I’m going to lay hold of the horns of the altar, and I won’t let go until God answers!” However, I don’t believe that is the truest meaning of “praying through.”

You can be shut in with the Lord, delighting in his presence. You can spend quality hours, even days, with him, glorying in sweet communion. You can have all your needs met, and your heart can be totally satisfied. His presence can heal you, lift you, empower you and strengthen you.

What happens when you leave that hallowed place of intimate communion? You may rise up from your knees only to go back to a crushing situation that has not changed. You can see the devil waiting there for you, ready to throw the same problems and emptiness at you. What good is it to get the glory on the mountain if it won’t see you through your battle?

I believe “praying through” means simply this: The strength, power and encouragement you receive from the Lord while shut in with him must see you through the trials ahead. The victory you get in the secret closet has to give you victory on the battlefield.

What exactly do you get from your time of prayer if not something that can see you through the battle? “Praying through” means waiting for the total completion of your prayer. Many Christians see only half-answered prayers because they do not allow what they received from the Lord in prayer to carry them through their trial.

Beloved, prayer is not finished until it sees you through to the other side of your trial. We have not “prayed it through” until we have “lived it through” in our trials by the strength we received in God’s presence. 

The Holy Spirit directed me to the book of Nehemiah; and as I read chapter 2, I saw something I had not seen before. This chapter contains an encouraging story for all who come to the Lord with a heavy heart.

Nehemiah was a cupbearer to King Artaxerxes. He tasted the wines before they were brought to the king’s table to make sure they weren’t poisoned. Over time, Nehemiah became a trusted servant to the king.

Nehemiah received a report from his brother that Jerusalem was in ruins. The population had been decimated; the people were in terrible straits, and conditions were worsening daily. This tore at Nehemiah’s heart. He loved Judah and Jerusalem, and a deep sorrow began to grip him.

Scripture says, “And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. Therefore the king said to me, ‘Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.’” (Nehemiah 2:1-2, NKJV).

Understand that people were forbidden to come into the king’s presence with sadness, especially if they were court employees. Nehemiah knew that having a gloomy countenance could cost him his head, and he was terribly fearful.

When the king saw Nehemiah’s grief, he was moved with compassion. Scripture tells us that he gave his downcast servant a leave of absence. He also gave him a letter of credit, opening the royal treasury to him. After all that, Nehemiah received from the king the desire of his heart: permission to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and the city walls.

Here is my point. If Nehemiah could go into the presence of a pagan king with a sad countenance and yet find favor and blessings beyond imagination, how much more will King Jesus show compassion to each of us, his children, in our sadness. He is eager to lift our burden and supply our needs.

Elisha inherited the role of prophet from Elijah. In 2 Kings 4, Elisha encountered one of his first big tests when he was approached by a Shunammite woman whose son had just died. In desperation, she told Elisha, “I’ve prayed and fasted, wept and pled; but I have received nothing from the Lord. With my son gone, I don’t have the strength to go on. I just don’t understand what God is doing. This is more than I can bear.”

Elisha responded by doing something unusual. “He said to Gehazi [his servant], ‘Tie up your garment.’” In other words, “Gird up you loins.” Then he continued, “Take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not reply. And lay my staff on the face of the child” (2 Kings 4:29, ESV).

Heeding Elisha’s instruction, Gehazi went to the family’s home and laid his staff on the face of the dead child. There was no sign of life, so Gehazi returned to Elisha saying, “The child has not awakened” (2 Kings 4:31).

Here is my question to you. What do you do when everything you try brings no result? Where do you turn when every effort you put forth does not accomplish its purpose?

There comes a time when we have no resource but Jesus alone. In this story, Elisha is a type of Christ. He went to that Shunammite family and stretched himself out over the body of the dead boy. When he was face to face, foot to foot, hand to hand over the child, he breathed into him.

What happened then? Scripture says the boy sneezed seven times (see 2 Kings 4:35). He was alive! What brought about this new life? Jesus himself breathed into the situation. When we have no hope, no resources, no ability, Christ breathes his supernatural life into our circumstances.

Make this your prayer: “Lord, I have nothing, but you have everything, and I need you now. If you do not breathe into my problem, I won’t make it. I can’t do it, but you can, Lord!” 

When we read the beginning books of the Bible, we tend to forget something very important. God had promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob a homeland where he would provide for them. He didn’t keep his promise the way that anyone would’ve thought he would. We forget that because we know the end of the story. Who would have thought that 400 years of slavery in Egypt would be part of keeping that promise, though? We feel like it’s hard to trust God when he’s not keeping his promises the way we think he should or with the timing we would have.

Take the story of when the Israelites finally got to the Promised Land, for example. They received the law on Mount Sinai and orders for worship. They knew what God wanted from them.  

They sent 12 spies into the land; you know the story. They came back and said, “The land is beautiful! It’s flowing with milk and honey.” That means it could handle cattle and had enough greenery and fruit-bearing trees that there was honey. Ten of the spies then said, “We can’t take it. We’re slaves. We don’t fight. Let’s go back to Egypt. We had garlic, leeks, onions; we were safe there.” 

This is the challenge of faith. 

Now you’d figure that if God sent down 10 plagues and parted a sea in front of us that we’d trust him. No, no, that’s how we operate. No matter what God has done for us, unbelief clings to us like soot. Some people let God save them out of the world, but they never walk in faith and enter into all of his blessings.  

How about you? What is God asking you to trust him with today? Think about what he’s already done for you. Think about what it says that he’s done for his people in the Bible. God is always faithful to his people. 

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lamentations 3:22-26, ESV).

^{Jim Cymbala began the Brooklyn Tabernacle with less than twenty members in a small, rundown building in a difficult part of the city. A native of Brooklyn, he is a longtime friend of both David and Gary Wilkerson.}