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Thank you for reading Standing Firm, a weekly men's devotional written by Dennis Wingfield for Rejoice Marriage Ministries, Inc.
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Pray Without Ceasing
The most disheartening emails I receive begin, “Please help me! I can’t do this any longer; the pain is too great. Please help me!” I am disheartened because I am powerless to change the circumstances that have caused this person such great pain. I cannot make things better. I cannot make the pain go away. I cannot bring his wife home. I simply cannot do any of these things. I feel so helpless and inadequate. All I can offer are my feeble prayers.
At times, I too am overwhelmed when I learn of the difficult circumstances experienced by so many people. I have firsthand experience of the pain that sin causes in relationships and families. My prayers seem so inadequate and my spirit groans within me. Words fail me but tears seem as if they will never stop. At times, this is the best prayer I can offer on the behalf of those in need of spiritual support.
We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. Romans 8:26
I find great hope in these words of Paul in his letter to the church in Rome. Even when I am so grief-stricken that words will not come, the Spirit is interceding on my behalf and yours. The Holy Spirit prays when I cannot. Be mindful of this incredible gift. God in His infinite mercy has given you the Spirit to intercede for you when the pain is so overwhelming that mere words cannot describe. If words will not come, find comfort in the fact that the Spirit knows what lies deep in your heart.
Hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8:24
Patience is extremely important in the battle for your home. In the natural, your situation may look hopeless. But Paul also says in his letter to the Romans that hope in things seen is no hope at all. If things look impossible to man, they are possible with God. Wait with joyful expectation for your miracle. Do not lose hope. Do not give up. Keep praying even if your prayers seem inadequate. God sees what lies in your heart and the Spirit is praying for you in the heavenly realm.
Pray without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians 5:17
To illustrate how important it is to pray without ceasing, Jesus told his disciples the parable of the persistent widow…
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. Luke 18:1-8
Jesus is your judge and advocate. Jesus promises, “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?” No matter how feeble your prayers, if offered up in faith, God will hear you and act on your behalf.
Early in my stand, I typically took action first and prayed later. Through many failed attempts to coax and manipulate my wife home, I slowly learned that I had it backwards. I was placing myself and my thoughts ahead of God. I found, “Pray first, act second” is the key to being in union with God’s will. I also learned that I needed to pray and pray, even when it appeared that nothing was happening to heal my marriage. The admonition to “pray without ceasing” can be summed up in the acrostic, PUSH…
P – Pray
U – Until
S – Something
H – Happens
We are not to say a prayer or two and then give up if nothing changes. No! God expects us to keep right on praying until something DOES happen and then pray some more. God is pleased when we come to Him with our cares and concerns. He longs to meet our needs in accordance with His will for us. And what is God’s will? For marriages to be healthy and whole, filled with grace and blessings!
I hate divorce, says the Lord God. Malachi 2:16
PUSH on to your goal of a healed marriage. Do not give up. The triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is acting behind the scenes to bring healing to your marriage. Marriage is a symbol of Christ’s unbreakable love for His bride, the Church. God desires that your marriage be a witness to this truth. Satan will stop at nothing to convince you that God does not care about you or your marriage. Do not fall into his trap. Believe and receive your miracle!
God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? Numbers 23:19
In union with you, praying until something happens.
Dennis L. Wingfield
Rejoice Marriage Ministries, Inc.
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