Be Strong In The Lord And In The Power Of His Might
Be strong when you’re tempted to give up, cave in and quit. Remember that greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.
Most of us remember the story we heard in school about the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dyke. In terms of prayer, your enemy Satan is the one with his finger in the dyke. He’s hoping that he can hold on and keep the answer to your prayer away from you long enough that you will give up.
Be Strong In the Lord, Not In Yourself
[pullquote]The only thing that can stop the will of God from coming to pass in your life is you. Be strong in God’s Word and be determined to receive every single thing that Jesus died on the cross to provide for you.[/pullquote]
Giving up on prayer and pulling your faith off the line is like releasing the pressure off the dam. Imagine the water line behind the dam getting lower and lower to the point where he doesn’t even need to keep the hole in the dam plugged up any longer. You take the pressure off when you give up on prayer.
But when you know the will of God concerning what you’ve prayed about and you’re meditating continuously on the scriptures that you’ve based your prayer on and you’re offering up prayers of thanksgiving, thanking God for the answer even before you see it, you’re turning up the pressure on the one who’s trying to keep your blessing from you.
We Cannot Be Defeated If We Don’t Quit!
The very first time I stood on God’s Word for any length of time for answered prayer had to do with the birth of my son, Jonathon. The doctors told my wife and I that we couldn’t have children. I was thankful for all the medical tests and caring attention we received from our doctors. I respected what they told us and I respected their advice that we adopt a child and go on with our lives.
What the doctors offered my wife and I were facts with no hope. What my wife and I chose to believe was the truth. Facts are real, but the truth is “more real” if there is such a term. Truth can change facts, which is what happened in our situation. We chose to believe the truth of Deuteronomy 28:8-11 which tells me that the Lord will command the blessing upon me…..(verse 8)…..in the fruit of my body….(verse 11).
So therefore, we knew we were going to have a child. The only question was when. We waited and stood in faith for 5 years, getting stronger with each and every day. We refused to be pressured out of what rightfully belonged to us and 5 years later, we received our blessing. We refused to accept the mental pressure the enemy attempted to heap on us through thoughts of our prayer not being answered.
His Word Will Not Return Unto Him Void
God has not, nor will He ever say anything that will not come to pass. The only question of whether we see the will of God manifested in our lives or not is if we have the boldness to never give up and never cave in and quit. Then after the birth or our son, the couple who supposedly could never have children gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. In this instance, the enemy standing there with his finger in the dam in an attempt to thwart the answer to our prayer from reaching us was overtaken by rushing water that swept him away. We were victorious over him in the area of child bearing and there was nothing he could do about it.
Some may ask if the 5 year struggle to see the will of God manifested in our lives was worth it. And to that I say emphatically YES! I now have a walking, talking, living breathing 6’3”, 260 lbs. testimony of what the power of God can do if you never give up. My son is 31 years old now and I’ve had the opportunity to share our story with plenty of people since his birth.
If You Could See the Answer, It Wouldn’t Be Faith
My hope is that he has inspired others who have faced all kinds of obstacles over the years to be strong and continue in faith against all odds. If you are in a faith fight right now and the enemy has his finger in the hole in your dam, I encourage you to be strong. Know that it’s only a matter of time before that dam is going to burst and the blessing of answered prayer is going to flow in your direction.
Be strong and refuse to cave in, give up and quit. I didn’t say feel strong, because there will be days when you surely won’t. I’m urging you to be strong, which has nothing to do with how you may be feeling. The only thing that can stop the will of God from coming to pass in your life is you. Be strong in God’s Word and be determined to receive every single thing that Jesus died on the cross to provide for you.
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