Praying for Patience & Endurance - Episode #27

The Prayer Podcast with Jan L. Burt

Private Prayer Group - Click to Join

Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements. (verse 12) God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.

~ Point number 1 - humbles circumstances equal high position (there is a great reverse order of things in the Kingdom of God - in military terms, it’s like an about face where the first shall be last and the last shall be first - this passage says that God has honored those who are poor, they can actually boast about it, and the rich should boast that God has humbled them - how can this impact the way that we pray? Maybe you can think on that in the coming days, for say the next week to ten days, and ask God to help you see more clearly what’s true according to His word in the lives of people all around you.)

~ Point number 2 - rich men are to be thankful when trials humble them (thankfulness in all things is very much a New Testament teaching, and it frankly needs to be a bigger part of my life - this passage helps us to accept our human frailties, and we are frail, we need a Savior and we have one in Jesus, aren’t you grateful for that? It is sort of un-American to accept our frail state, perhaps, but it’s not unbiblical - this is when we discover that true riches are found in the grace of God, and cannot really come from any other place)

~ Point number 3 - verse 12 - I’m going to read this verse once more: “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.” (And for this episode, I’m going to pray a blessing for you based on this verse. Would you pray with me now? Lord, thank You for Your word. Thank You for the blessing of being able to come to You in prayer and to make our requests known. Thank You for hearing us when we pray, and for answering our prayers. Would You, even now in this very moment, bless us with patience to be able to endure hard seasons in life, times of testing and temptation, whatever those may look like? Some may be tempted to complain, I know I certainly can fall into that camp, and that is not befitting a child of God, a child of the King of all kings should not be a complainer. Lord, whatever our struggles may be, would You strengthen us to stand firm in the face of testing and temptation, to endure because we know that Your word says that he or she who endures til the end shall be saved. Give us long term, long suffering endurance. Equip us for the things we face in our lives. Heal us, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and in every other way that we need Your blessing on our lives. Hold us close, and also send us out to do Your will. Heal us completely so that we can be a blessing to others, sharing with them about the One who heals us, offering what we have because we’ve lived it, experienced it, seen You working in and through our lives. Thank You for this promise that those who patiently endure will be blessed, will receive the crown of life from You. Help us to love You above all else, to not grow weary in well doing, but to trust that we will reap a harvest in due time, so long as we don’t give up. Be our everything, Lord, our all in all, and be glorified. In Jesus Name, Amen.