Trouble, the route to powerful prayer

Taken the right way, trouble is a route to powerful prayer.

E.M. Bounds, a classic writer on prayer, says: "Prayer allows God to work freely with us and in us in the day of trouble."

We may not see it - or understand it - but God permits trouble to make us more like Christ.

In his book The Essentials of Prayer, Bounds says: "God's highest aim in dealing with his people is in developing Christian character. . .  He is seeking to make us like himself."

The apostle Paul says in Romans 8:29: "For God knew his children in advance and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters."

And in Philippians 1:6, Paul says: "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." 

So, God is at work within us all the time.  His aim is to make us like Christ.  Trouble is one means for getting us there.

Severe trouble drives many people to pray.  Take Jacob, for example.  In Genesis 32:22-30, Jacob is deeply worried about the coming encounter with his brother Esau whom he has wronged.  During the night, he wrestles with God - a picture of prayer.

Jacob emerges from this meeting with God a different man.  He is still a weak human being with many faults, but now God is at the centre of his life.

Bounds says that our troubles "can work for us only as we co-operate with God in prayer".  When we pray, we are opening ourselves to God and agreeing that he is greater than we are.

Christ gave us the greatest example of prayer in suffering.  He went to Gethsemane to pray the night before his death on the cross.  He agonized so much that he sweat blood.  But he emerged from this time of prayer with the strength of God so that he could face his trial and triumph over the enemy.

For me, I need to remember that troubles are there to make me stronger in Christ.  And God will give me the strength I need through prayer.