What Helps You Stand on Hard Days?

"It was like being tackled out of nowhere!"

That is how we may find ourselves describing life when things start going badly.

As a testimony, five years ago, life and ministry was going well overall, and then a literal flood of water and problems came. It was not a pretty scene.

Let me tell you what helped us: remembering God and taking time to pray.

It seems so simple, but it's not the normal thing for people to do.

When trouble comes, it is natural to respond one of a few general ways. First, we may try to fix the situation or search for a solution. Second, we can crumble under the weight of the problem. Third, we can try to ignore the situation entirely.

I have done all three--sometimes on the same day!

God says life is more than just physical, and, Christian, we are facing a spiritual battle!

The way to survive the bad stuff is the way God says we can, and that is by standing on your knees.

After giving us a display of the spiritual armor we should be donning, God tells us in Ephesians 6:18 one of the greatest things we can do and need to do: "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints."

Sunday morning at 10:30, I hope to preach the sermon I planned to preach five years ago when "the flood" came and "tackled us out of nowhere."

Five years ago, God preached the sermon for us. At that time, we could not meet as a church for services because we were in the midst of a natural disaster. What we learned when we were powerless to do anything was to pray and find God's strength. We stood in adverse times by getting on our knees.

Five years later and seeing many awesome ways God is working, we are also cognizant that Satan is fighting against God's work. Do not forget to pray!

Let me encourage you to pray. Stand on your knees. Even as you read this, take a moment to pray and talk with the Lord. Help someone else stand by getting on your knees and praying for them.

Thank Him. Praise Him. Lift up a situation in a friend's life. Ask for God to give you help in something you are facing right now.

Prayer is so important! With all the activity going on at Open Door and in our community, it has been pressed on my own life to take more time to pray.

So often we feel the need to work everything out on our own. Do not get me wrong. Hard work is important, but what is even more important is praying!

How may I pray for you to help you stand today as you face spiritual battles?

In Christ,
Pastor Dennis Schaffer

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