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Our Help in Trouble

Our Help in Trouble

Consider the blameless, observe the upright;
there is a future for the man of peace.

But all sinners will be destroyed;
the future of the wicked will be cut off.

Psalm 37:39,40 NIV

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The LORD is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble,
And He knows those who take refuge in Him.

Nahum 1:7 NASB

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Thou who hast made me see many
sore troubles wilt revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
thou wilt bring me up again.

Thou wilt increase my honor,
and comfort me again.
I will also praise thee with
the harp for thy faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to thee with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.

Psalm 71:20-22 RSV

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God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth should change

And though the mountains slip
into the heart of the sea;

Psalm 46:1,2 NASB

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Thanks be unto God for His wonderful gift:
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God
is the object of our faith; the only faith
that saves is faith in Him.

How to Pray Effectively

How to Pray Effectively

by Rick Warren

Please remember what you told your servant Moses: “If you sin, I will scatter you among the nations.” Nehemiah 1:8 (NLT)

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Here are four secrets to answered prayer from the life of Nehemiah:

1. Base your request on God’s character. Pray like you know God will answer you: “I’m expecting you to answer this prayer because of who you are. You are a faithful God. You are a great God. You are a loving God. You are a wonderful God. You can handle this problem, God!"

2. Confess the sins of which you’re aware. After Nehemiah bases his prayer on who God is, he confesses his sins. He says, “We’ve sinned.” He says “I confess . . . myself . . . my father’s house . . . we have acted wickedly . . . we have not obeyed.” It wasn’t Nehemiah’s fault that Israel went into captivity. He wasn’t even born when it happened and he was most likely born in captivity. Yet, he’s including himself in the national sins. He says, “I’ve been a part of the problem.”

3. Claim the promises of God. Nehemiah prays to the Lord, saying, “I want you to remember what you told your servant Moses.” Can you imagine saying “remember” to God? Nehemiah reminds God of a promise he made to the nation of Israel. In effect, he prays, “God, you warned through Moses that if we were unfaithful, we would lose the land of Israel. But you also promised that if we repent, you’d give it back to us.”

Does God have to be reminded? No. Does he forget what he’s promised? No. Then why do we do this? Because it helps us remember what God has promised.

4. Be very specific in what you ask for. If you want specific answers to prayer, then make specific requests. If your prayers consist of general requests, how will you know if they’re answered?

Nehemiah is not hesitant to pray for success. He’s very bold in his praying. Have you ever prayed, “Lord, make me successful?” If you haven’t, why haven’t you? What is the alternative? A failure?

Is it okay to ask God to make you successful? It all depends on your definition of success! I believe a good definition of success is: “Fulfilling God’s purpose for my life in faith, love, and the power of the Holy Spirit, and expecting the results from God.” That is a worthy life objective that you should be able to pray for with confidence.

Consider this: If you can’t ask God to make you a success at what you’re doing, you should be doing something else. God doesn’t want you to waste your life.