I have been blessed over the years to see Christians face problems with a confidence that they not only would be victorious but would grow even stronger through the experience.
I have also been amazed at how many Believers have faltered at the slightest challenge against their faith.
It is like they were not prepared to fight the good fight of faith.
Recently I shared with an individual that had impeccable spiritual credentials.
If I had my way, this person would receive the "Zacharias and Elizabeth Foundation Grant" for outstanding Christian faith.
(Luke 1: 6) What I witnessed in our conversation was that there were some tiny cracks in this person's infrastructure.
I am sure we have all had times when we experienced "quakes" in our walk that made us reach out for God's hand to help steady us.
Why do we have these unexpected situations that seem to take us by surprise? When we think we are prepared for anything that life will throw our way, we find ourselves in a battle that is not of our choosing.
We momentarily have the wind knocked out of our sails.
We then hopefully look for the wind of the Holy Spirit to fill our spiritual canvas so we can sail away from the lifeless sea we find ourselves in.
I have found in my spiritual journey that many of our unexpected problems in life are not our fault! What I found was the missing link to spiritual preparedness.
It might surprise you that it involves the role of other Believers in your life.
In I Timothy 2:1, we have a verse that has been misunderstood by many people.
Paul states that there are four types of prayers with which every Believer should be involved..
These are SUPPLICATIONS, PRAYERS, INTERCESSIONS, and THANKS.
Notice that these are to be given for "all men.
" Many people believe that these are the prayers that should be offered up on behalf of "kings and those in authority" so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life.
(v.
2) If that is the emphasis of this verse, I wonder how many are praying for our President, Congress, Governor, Major, etc...
? We sure know how to criticize our leaders, but have we learned how to pray for them? Yes, we are to pray for political leadership, but more importantly, we are to offer up our prayers for fellow Believers.
We say we have a prayer list that we use with regular inconsistency.
We pray for those who have needs and have requested our intervention.
But what about those who have made no requests? What about those who are going through life with no current problems or challenges? This is where we miss it! If we would learn to pray for people's faith and spiritual growth during their times of spiritual rest and relaxation, they would have a distinct advantage when the negative situations in life present themselves.
Some of the greatest problems I have faced as a Pastor were times of greatest victories.
The reason was that people had been praying for me daily.
Instead of always praying for people during a crisis, pray for them during their everyday experiences and, in so doing, you will be preparing them for the unexpected negative encounters.
We need to pray that the strong will not become weak, as well as praying the weak will become strong.
Supplication is requesting.
Let us make our request for spiritual strength in our brother/sister.
Prayers are praying God's Word, an oratory.
Let us pray quoting Scripture.
Intercession is interceding.
Let us intercede as Nehemiah did for Jerusalem.
(Nehemiah 1:4-11).
Thanks is expressing gratitude.
Let us express our gratitude to Him who makes intercession through our prayers.