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One of the questions many people wrestle with is, “Does prayer work?” Many of us have prayed for something: healing, a wound to be taken away, a relationship to be restored, only to have it not answered.

We have also seen moments when we prayed for something, and that prayer wasn’t answered the way we expected it.

This leaves us to ask, “Does prayer work? Is prayer even worth the time and effort?”

In James 5:13 – 20, James lays out how to pray, the role of the unconfessed in prayers, and how a church should gather to pray together.

This passage is often used to pray for the sick, which it is about. But the word for sick in James 5 doesn’t just mean physically ill but also includes spiritual and emotional weakness. This is one reason James uses the example of Elijah because Elijah was spiritually and emotionally weak in 1 Kings. That idea completely changed my thoughts about this passage and my prayer life as I prepped this message. 

In chapter 5, James gives us five questions to ask so that we can see prayer be more effective in our lives: 

5 reasons why prayer doesn’t work.
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Are you self-made and have little need for God? Many of us are self-made, able to work hard, strategic thinkers, or people who can feel our way out of things.

Without realizing it, we create lives that have little need for the power of God.

This begs the question of when we start praying about something and how long it takes us to ask God for help.

Do you see the hard and good times as things God has allowed? In James 5, James talks about Job and Elijah as examples for us to understand his point. Job said, “God gives, and God takes; blessed be the name of the Lord.” James wants us to see how this interacts with our prayers. Do we see the good and the hard as from God? Or just the hard?

Do you pray for your will and not God’s? Jesus taught his disciples in Matthew 6 that when they pray, they are to pray for God’s will, not their own.

But one of our frustrations with prayer is that God doesn’t answer us on our timetable or the way we want.

This is the crux of prayer. Because we will often ask for A, and God gives us B. The question we have to wrestle with is, do we believe God heard us? Do we believe God spoke to the other person? This is when we are reminded how little control we have in life, and that’s hard. 

Do you pray specifically? I know it can be scary to pray specifically because I am opening myself up to being let down or opening myself up to potential doubts and struggles. What if I ask for this specific healing and don’t get it? What if I ask God to do this or that, and it doesn’t happen?

That’s hard. 

But the example that James uses is Elijah, who was a man who prayed specifically. He was also a very flawed man, which is also incredibly encouraging. 

Do you live in unconfessed sin? Unconfessed sin creates a barrier between you, God, and others. And James tells us it is a hindrance to our prayer lives. James connects the confession of sin to answered prayer and healing. 

This is important because the healing we are promised is spiritual, physical, and emotional, but we aren’t promised when that healing will come, just that we will have it. 

5 questions to ask about your prayer life.
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The post 5 Questions About Prayer appeared first on JoshuaReich.org.

It seems around Christmas, whatever feelings we have during the year intensify.

If we are feeling excited and happy, that seems to grow. If we are feeling lonely and sad, that also intensifies.

For many of us, though, it is the darker feelings that we tend to feel more deeply around the holidays. The feelings of being alone, or anxious, or depressed. Feelings of being left out or being let down because the holidays didn’t go as we planned.

In those moments, it can feel like we are the only ones who think that way, to feel forgotten by others (and by God). When that happens, we can miss what is happening and what God is trying to do in those moments.

One of the most fascinating stories in the Bible is the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 17 – 19. Elijah is a prophet in the Old Testament who takes on the prophets of Baal, who challenges the king and queen (the most influential people in his world) and wins. And yet, when Queen Jezebel threatens Elijah, he runs for his life into the wilderness, prays to God that he would die, and complains that he is all alone.

Elijah shows us, though, how God meets us in our loneliness, how God meets us in our depression and sadness.

In this passage, I think there are some questions we should ask ourselves about our loneliness and darker feelings around the holidays. Because our emotions are real, but our feelings also tell us things that we can easily miss.

Here are 5 questions to ask ourselves during the holidays as we process our feelings of loneliness and exhaustion:

5 questions to ask ourselves during the holidays as we process our feelings of loneliness and exhaustion.
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Is there any high that I just experienced that has led to my low? One of the things that happened in the life of Elijah is an incredible moment. While standing on Mt. Carmel, when he challenges the prophets of Baal and Asherah, he prays, and God answers by sending fire from heaven. We’re told that the whole nation repented and worshiped God.

Right after this is when Elijah experiences a very low moment, when he experiences the depth of his loneliness and depression.

We often overlook this in life. We are so busy and running on adrenaline throughout the holidays, and then we are hit with exhaustion and deeper feelings. Elijah’s life shows us that this can be normal and something we need to prepare for. Do you have space in your life to feel, to process your feelings from the holidays? To process being around family and all that that can mean?

Has God answered a prayer recently that I forgot about? As Elijah runs into the wilderness, he has forgotten all that God has done, how God answered his prayer and how God has moved.

Around the holidays, much of our focus is on what we don’t have, what didn’t go right, what we missed out on. And those things matter. But we also need to look at what we do have, how God has moved, how God has answered prayers, and what blessings we have.

How has God provided for me (food and nap)? When Elijah runs into the wilderness and tells God that he wants to die, God doesn’t respond to that. It is fascinating to me what God does. God provides Elijah with what he needs: food and a nap. 

Never underestimate the power of food and sleep, especially when we are feeling some deep things. The cold, winter darkness can become incredibly dark. And while the morning is not a cure-all, things do change after a good night’s sleep. This isn’t to lessen the feelings we have or even the importance of medication or a good Christian counselor, but a reminder of the difference between day and night.

Never underestimate the power of food and a nap.
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It is also a reminder to make sure you are eating well and sleeping well during the holidays. We will fill ourselves with more sugar and potentially alcohol, which can exacerbate our lack of sleep, which we are already getting less of because of the pace of the holidays. So, make sure you plan to get good sleep and have a plan for eating well. 

How is God being patient with me? God’s patience with Elijah is incredible. 

He listens to Elijah’s complaints, to his whining (and Elijah does start whining), and he provides Elijah with food and a nap, and he responds to Elijah. 

This is an incredible reminder of God’s grace and patience which we so easily forget. 

God will respond; God will listen and not scold. He doesn’t tell Elijah to man up or stop complaining; he doesn’t tell Elijah he is ridiculous. Instead, he listens and patiently responds. God has so much patience for us. Never forget that. 

God’s patience for us never runs out.
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God came to Elijah, how has God come to me? While God shows up to the nation of Israel with fire and famine, when God comes Elijah, he does so through food and a nap, and then a whisper. 

It is easy, especially around the holidays, to miss how God has come to us. We often look for significant, spectacular movements (which God does. But God often shows up in the everyday, simple things. God shows up in the beautiful sunsets and sunrises, the embrace and company of a friend, the simple gifts, the quiet snowfall, the crackling fire. 

Be sure to take time to look for God in simple, everyday places and situations. 

The post When You Are Lonely & Exhausted Around Christmas appeared first on JoshuaReich.org.

A common question that people ask is, “How do I know I can trust God?”

We talk about how to trust God when life falls apart, when the bottom falls out of a relationship, when we hit hard financial times or we get a phone call we didn’t expect.

What about just trusting God each day, whether things are good or bad?

There are promises all over the Bible about God, His character, what He will do and will not do. But how do you know those are real and will not fail?

That’s the question the apostle Paul is seeking to answer at the beginning of Romans 9.

Trusting in God is a hard thing to do, but when we do, it leads to our joy.

One of the things I often encourage people to do who struggle to trust in God is to ask themselves why they don’t trust God. What keeps you from that? Is it something you think God should have done? Is it because of a past hurt or a relationship that fell apart?

Often without realizing it, we don’t trust God not because of God but because of ourselves.

Once we are able to see why we don’t trust God and what keeps us from taking that step, we are able to deal with that.

It isn’t as simple as “just trusting God more.”

The reality, though, is all of us trust in someone or something in our lives.

We trust in people everyday.

Yet the reverse is true, and we know it to be true.

Misplaced trust does not lead to joy.

One of the things that I find most fascinating about Habakkuk chapter 3 is how Habakkuk reminds himself of how God has moved in the past. He recalls how the nation of Israel began, how God brought the nation of Israel out of slavery in the book of Exodus and gave them the 10 Commandments.

What Habakkuk is doing is reminding himself of how God has moved in the past. Often our struggle is with trusting that God will show up. Habakkuk is showing us, “God worked in the past, so I can trust He will work now and in the future.”

This doesn’t mean that God will work in the same way as the past. It doesn’t mean He will work on our timetable, but we do know He is at work.

You may be in a place where you need to remind yourself of how God has worked in the past of your life. Maybe you need to journal or make a list of things He’s done, prayers He has answered. Maybe you need to determine why you don’t trust God, what is holding you back and how to move forward in that. What things are you placing your trust in that will ultimately let you down and take away your joy instead of giving you joy?

The post Can You Trust God? appeared first on JoshuaReich.org.

I just wrapped up a five week series on the book of Habakkuk called Waiting on God. While I love every series we do at Revolution, I love preaching through books of the Old Testament. I know each communicator is different and there are guys who would preach on the gospels every week if they could (and some do).

So far in 6 years we’ve preached through the Song of Solomon, Jonah, the life of Elijah and Samson, Nehemiah, Joshua, Ecclesiastes and now Habakkuk. We’re thinking of doing Malachi and Ruth next year as well.

Why do I love preaching through the Old Testament books? Here are a few reasons why I love them and why you should consider preaching through them more often:

1. Your people don’t know them as well. While most people don’t know the Bible very well, most really don’t know the Old Testament. They might think they know the stories of Noah, Moses, Joseph and David, but there is so much in them they don’t know. Most people at my church had never read through Habakkuk when we preached through it. This creates a sense of anticipation and excitement to hear something they have not heard before.
2. They are filled with great stories. Let’s be honest, the stories of the Old Testament are crazy. Have you read through Judges? This engages people and helps them visualize the bible. It is also a great way to say, “If someone was making up the Bible, this probably wouldn’t get included.” They are filled with people making wrong choices all over the place and God still being gracious.
3. We see the character of God. Many people say they like the Jesus of the New Testament and not the God of the Old Testament. Honestly, I can see why and relate. Yet, every time I dive into the Old Testament, while I sometimes scratch my head at what seems like a vengeful and wrathful God. I am equally blown away by how patient and gracious He is. He continues to give chance after chance. The Old Testament truly shows how long suffering He is. So, while people need to hear that God hates sin, has wrath and anger towards sin, He also has enormous amounts of grace for sinners who repent.
4. We need the Old Testament so the New Testament is such good news. Without the Old Testament, the beauty of the New Testament would be dimmed. By the time you get to Malachi, the fact that God still sends a redeemer is mind blowing to me. Honestly, if you read the Old Testament, you should be astounded that God doesn’t repeat the story of Noah. When Jesus comes, the silence is deafening and then…a Redeemer. One to right all the wrongs of the world, to usher in redemption and justice, once and for all.

4 reasons you should preach more from the Old Testament.
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While pastors need to balance the Old and New Testament, which we do very well I think. More pastors need to dust off some of the books in the Old Testament for their churches.

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The post Why I Love Preaching in the Old Testament appeared first on JoshuaReich.org.