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CURRENT RADIO SERIES Dare to Believe   CURRENT TV SERIES His Story Your Story

“… God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” --Daniel 3:17-18 I wonder what will happen when hardship and persecution increases in our country. I see so many people whose faith has become soft and sentimental. But God wants you and me to build enduring faith within us now by obediently persevering through life’s trials and difficulties. So that when even more trying times come we can be bold and strong in our faith. We need to be more like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego whom we meet in the book of Daniel. Even when threatened with death, these men refused to bow down to the king’s idol. Their faith in God was immovable and unshakable. And before King Nebuchadnezzar ordered them placed in a fiery furnace, they told the king they trusted God to deliver them, but regardless of the outcome, they’d never bow down to false gods! Do you have this kind of faith? Will you allow God to do this within you? Will you stand strong in your faith today? Let God develop enduring, stubborn, and steadfast faith within you now, and in days ahead, your faith will not fail! WILL YOU STAND STRONG IN YOUR FAITH TODAY?

Our Prayer Partner

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
Romans 8:26–27

Many of us are blessed to have a few close friends who really know how to pray. When we are facing difficult circumstances or trials, we often turn to these people and ask them to join us in seeking God’s help. It is a wonderful blessing to have such prayer support, and there is nothing wrong with asking others to pray for us and with us. It is a real encouragement to know that we are not alone in our praying.
But as Christians we have a far greater resource and partner in our praying—the Holy Spirit of God. All human prayer is necessarily limited. We lack full understanding of our circumstances, and we thus do not always know what the best solution to our problem is. Sometimes when we are convinced we know what God “should” do, we are completely off base. But our sincere prayers, offered in submission to the will of God, are heard and helped, even when they are misguided.
The Holy Spirit knows what is in our hearts and hears our sincere cries, even when they are not fully informed by His knowledge. In God’s grace our prayers are interpreted to what is best. Even better they are joined in by the Holy Spirit. And His intercession for us is not casual. Sometimes when we ask someone to pray with us about a need, their prayers are not intense. But the Holy Spirit is intensely involved in our prayer. This should give us great confidence as we wait for God to answer.
 

Today’s Growth Principle: 

We can trust the Holy Spirit to take our limited prayers and perfectly express them to the Father.