ISAIAH 62 PRAYER MINISTRY

Find part one of this message here!

If I am honest, I a lot of the time do not run straight to Jesus to fill me up– and a lot of the time, I foolishly blame Him for the lack of fulfillment I feel in those other “cisterns.” It’s hard, because many different desires we have are Godly, and God-given; yet, they can become our “all in all” so quickly. What causes us to turn from Christ so quickly (or come to Him last)?

I think it is because we believe a lie. From the very beginning, in that garden that Adam, Eve, and God shared, satan twisted and perverted how God looked to Adam and Eve. Instead of being a God who can be trusted, satan made God look like a killjoy– or even the One who is holding out on us. Satan can also make the situation look like we are not receiving what we desire, as a punishment of some sort for our lack of faith or whatever else (this is sometimes the truth, but I believe satan can use it to heap on condemnation, which is not from Jesus at all!).

When we believe these lies, a distorted view of God and our relationship with Him arises. We become frustrated, untrusting, and generally despondent about our situations, instead of trusting “apart from you [God] I have no good thing” (Psalm 16:2, NIV). When we find ourselves in despondency, how can we be pulled out?

1. Remembering that our emotions do not always tell the truth about a situation. Emotions are important and God-given, but they are never supposed to be what leads and guides us…
2. Remembering God’s Word. When satan tempted Jesus during His time of fasting for 40 Days and 40 Nights, Jesus’ defense was always scripture. That is why Ephesians 6 tells us to use the Bible as our “Sword of the Spirit,” to fight back against the lies of the enemy!
3. Encouraging ourselves in the Lord. What does this mean, you may ask? In 1 Samuel 30, King David and his men have their women, children, and belongings looted/raided (you can read the story, here). When David was in this incredibly low spot in his life, the Bible says that He “found strength in the Lord his God,” or as other translations put it, “Encouraged himself in the Lord.” We can do this by remembering who God is despite our current situation and speaking to ourselves about what God’s Word says, despite what we may feel. I can talk more about this in a future post!

There are probably many more ways to lift ourselves out of these pits of spiritual despondency; this is by no means an exhaustive list. It just goes to show: no matter how a situation may make us feel, that is by no means the end-all-be-all. Jesus is good to us, even when life is not– and He alone is the well that will never run dry.

As these people in third world areas, such as Africa, receive the life-giving gift of water, may it remind all of us how truly desperate we are for water that will last– water that will only come from Jesus Himself. May we taste and see that He is good.

Do you know Jesus?

Satan has been trying to convince people for centuries that they do not need God– but that could not be farther from the truth. Learn more about Jesus, what He did, and why it should matter to you, here.

Please pray for…

• Those who feel as though Christ is not enough. May we always hold tightly to the Truth that Jesus is the One we have been waiting for.
• Those in third-world countries would trust in Jesus, in the midst of their need for Him.
• The Chibok Girls & Leah Sharibu. You can find their names and pictures, here.