| In reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. | ||
| 2 Corinthians 12:10 | ||
| ‘If you only knew what power there is in an accepted sorrow,’ wrote Madame Guyon 400 years ago. Understand this, dear saint, it is not wrong to pray to the Father when there’s a thorn jabbing at you, or to share with the Father the desires that are mounting within you. You desire a certain thing to open up, to work out, to be taken away. There’s no problem with communicating this to the Father. Whether it’s a physical thorn in the flesh — sickness, disease, or bodily difficulty — or whether it’s an emotional thorn in the flesh, we are to pray not once, not twice, but without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Life is not a playground, gang. It’s a battlefield. And the sooner we understand this, the wiser we’ll be. This is not heaven. If you’re seeking to have heaven here now — no thorns in your flesh, no problems poking you, no disappointments coming to you — your life will be hellish because this is not heaven. It is when I finally realize that, like Paul, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain, that life becomes extremely meaningful and completely enjoyable. We’re here for a short season. There will be thorns in our flesh. There will be things poking us and disappointing us. Oh, what power there is, though, in an accepted sorrow. Pray without ceasing until the Lord either takes away the difficulty, or gives you the healing, develops the relationship, or opens the job — until He either does that which you’re asking or lets you know, as He did with Paul, that His grace is sufficient for you to bear the pain or the disappointment. Never forget that God is not as interested in your present comfort as He is in your eternal state. Trust Him when He says, ‘This thorn is necessary to draw you close to Me, that you might give your all in service to Me, that you might depend wholly upon Me.’ For it is then you will hear from Him the words your soul longs to hear: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord,’ (Matthew 25:21). Pray. For as you grab the lever of prayer with the hand of faith one of two things will happen: Blessings, healing, the working of God will come down upon you — or else the lever will yank you up into heaven where you’ll hear your Father say, ‘Now that I’ve got your attention, I don’t want you healed because it is in your weakness that My strength will flow through you.’ Brothers and sisters, pray 3 times, 30 times, 300 times until you either get the answer you’re asking for or you hear the Father say, ‘No, and here’s why ... .’ Don’t settle for anything less. If you pray this way, I believe you’ll experience successful prayer 100% of the time. Talk to the Father about your thorns, your difficulties and keep praying until the answer comes your way or until, like Paul, you have understanding and revelation and can say, ‘That’s a closed issue. I don’t need to talk about that anymore. I get it, Father. Your grace is sufficient for me.’ | ||
