Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 11 – Pressed But Not Crushed

by TJ Bates

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.”
-2 Corinthians 4:8-11

Paul is amazing! Always the cockeyed optimist, able to take whatever comes his way and do it all to God’s glory. Oh, that I had his resolve. He truly suffered but did so happily because he knew what the end result would be. So does Dr. Snyder…

“But he (Paul) didn’t really expect anything different. This was exactly what he was told would happen if he chose to live a life in Christ Jesus. And this is exactly what we might expect as well if we choose to follow the Son of God. But look at the payback! It’s through seeing God work in our lives that we come to the solid convictions that there really is a magnificent, extravagant, over-the-top resurrection life at the end. We come to this confidence by means of all the little resurrections and reversals of fortune that come our way on the journey of faith. Thank God for his daily deliverances and faithfulness! We can keep on praying because it makes a difference.”

TODAY’S PRAYER: Consider what you’re praying and waiting for in the light of what God is doing right now in bringing you to a higher level of faith. Ask God for eyes of faith.

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Photo by Yan Feng via Flickr.