by Jerry Lewis

Every day I talk with someone who deals with fear or anxiety. If your personal life isn’t falling apart, 5 minutes of the news reveals a world seemingly spinning out of control. A couple of years ago I discovered a resource from Biblestudytools.com.  Use this as a prayer guide when you’re afraid.

1. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7) God, I acknowledge my need for you today. I pray that you would breathe peace onto me through your Holy Spirit. Guard my heart. Show me how to protect my mind. I am weak on my own and so I fall back on your strength today.
2. When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. (Psalm 56:3) Jesus, I put my trust in you today. Anxious thoughts are taking over my mind, and it’s easy to take my eyes off of you when I feel afraid. Remind me of who you are. Pour out your love on me, that I might remember you are always good and always faithful, especially when I am afraid.
3. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)  Lord Jesus, thank you for always being with me. Your name, Immanuel, means God with us. I’m so grateful today that you are near me no matter what anxious thoughts try to creep into my mind. Thank you for being my strength when I am weak. You are faithful always. I love you, Lord, and I rely on you today and every day. Amen.
4. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7) God, thank you for this truth. Thank you for the gifts you bestow on us–gifts that help ease our anxious spirits and remind us of who we are in Christ. Thank you for giving us power to fight the lies. Thank you for loving us even in our brokenness.
5. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9)  Lord Jesus, we know in you we are conquerors. Sometimes, it can feel so hard to believe that. We don’t feel strong or courageous, and we worry relentlessly about our lives and circumstances. Remind us today that we are strong in you.
6. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18) Lord, my heart is broken. My mind is restless and my spirit is uneasy. When I feel broken down or defeated, I want to run to you, knowing you are always present and always near. Comfort me, Jesus.
7. An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up. (Proverbs 12:25) Jesus, my anxious heart is weighing me down today. I confess that I have become consumed by my own thoughts and I have lost sight of who you are. Speak kindly to my heart, Lord, and remind me of what is true. Thank you for your forgiveness and your endless grace for me.
8. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. (Colossians 3:15) Dear Lord, it is my deep desire that your peace would rule in my heart. When I feel uneasy or unsettled, I want to know you are near me. Calm my fears, settle my spirit, and bring rest to my heart as I surrender myself to you today.
9. The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace. (Psalm 29:11) Lord, thank you for giving me strength. On the hard days, help me to remember you are never far away. Your strength is always fighting for me–I need only to be still in your presence. Thank you for bringing peace to me. Thank you for every blessing. I want to name and remember them today, for you are always good. Amen.

by Jerry Lewis

If we are honest, everyone on this planet recognizes that there is something inherently wrong with the world.  Since the beginning of history, mankind has attempted to provide an answer to the existence of evil.  Horrible things happen.  When they do, people scramble to understand them in light of their beliefs. Whether they are atheists, agnostic, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, or Christians, the problem of evil is too prevalent to dismiss.  The question for Christians becomes an even more difficult one:  If God is good and loving, then why does God allow (or some would say ordain) bad things?  (i.e. Why do bad things happen to good, and even God’s, people?)

When we can’t find sufficient answers, we have a tendency to create our own.  Here are a few of the most common misconceptions:

• Bad things happen to God’s people because God is not involved. Technically this is called “deism.”  Deism suggests that God does not interfere with the world in any way–everything runs according to its natural course. To be sure, actions have consequences.  If you smoke, you could get lung cancer and you could die.  Smoking causes cancer.  Actions have consequences.  However, Christians believe that God is very involved.  He didn’t just wind up the universe like some master watchmaker and then step back and watch it run, or worse, walk away completely (Thomas Jefferson ascribed to this belief by the way).  As a matter of fact, God invaded the universe with His Son Jesus Christ.  The incarnation is the centerpiece of Christianity–God becoming man.
• Bad things happen to God’s people because God is impotent.  God either doesn’t exist, or if he does, he is incapable of controlling or stopping bad things.  Those who hold this view simply point to the cacophony of evil in the world.  “If God is God (and therefore in complete control of the universe), then why did he allow……?” God appears to be impotent–unable to do what is needed to be done in a certain situation.  Atheists hold to the extreme form of this view.  God is impotent because he doesn’t exist, therefore to explain evil does not necessitate the mention of God.
• Bad things happen to God’s people because of their personal sin. This assumption is as old as time itself. Jesus and his disciples encountered a man who was born blind.  His disciples looked at the man, and then at Jesus, and asked: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?” (John 9:2)  The disciples’ assumption was that personal sin resulted in the blindness.  This assumption has several holes in its logic.  First of all, the blind man, like everyone since Adam and Eve, was born into sin.  If his sin resulted in blindness, then all people would be born blind. Second, the blind man’s parents were born into sin just as he was.  If their sin caused their son to be born blind, then all children would be born blind.

All of those answers leave us feeling guilty or empty, despairing or despondent.

Why, then, do bad things happen to God’s people?

• Bad things happen to God’s people because Adam and Eve sinned. Genesis 3 tells the story.  The serpent deceived Eve.  Eve convinced Adam and they ate the forbidden fruit.  God came walking in the garden and they hid themselves.  For the first time in their lives they were afraid of God.  Sin does that.  Sin distances us from God. God cursed the serpent, but he did not curse Adam or Eve.  (Childbearing became difficult and God cursed the land.) God made clothes for Adam and Eve.  The Creator of the universe became a tailor!  Since then death and disease, sin and temptation have been the norm.  Romans 8:22 says all of creation groans as it waits for renewal.
• Bad things happen to God’s people because suffering stands alone in its ability to draw us into fellowship with God.  Paul wrote in Philippians 3:10 “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”  Christianity is counterintuitive. How attractive is a faith whose leader is described by Isaiah this way: “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (53:3)  The hero of the Christian faith was a man of sorrows.  When you suffer you are most like Christ.  When you suffer, you are in God’s company.  C. S. Lewis, in the Problem of Pain, said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
• Bad things happen to God’s people because God uses their suffering to reveal Himself to those who don’t know Him.  Jesus’ disciples thought the blind man’s sin, or his parents’ sin, caused his blindness. Jesus’ answer caught the disciples by surprise: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:3) The blind beggar was a showcase of the glory of God. His parents never saw this coming.  Neither did he.  Jesus chose to heal him. We don’t know why God heals some and doesn’t heal others. What we know is that God uses the suffering of his beloved children as a showcase of His glory. Jesus spit on the ground, put mud on the blind man’s eyes, instructed him to wash in the pool of Siloam and the man left seeing. The Pharisees complained and the blind beggar became one of the first worshipers of Jesus.

Suffering is inevitable…and so hard.  Christians never dismiss it.  As a matter of fact, when our brothers and sisters hurt, we do too.  Paul instructs us in Romans 12:15, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.”  In Galatians 6:2 we are told to “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”  We will never have all the answers (that is, this side of glory)–we will struggle to understand.  In those times, we cry together.  During those times we shoulder each others’ burdens…and in the process we fulfill the law of Christ.

by Jerry Lewis

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.  

1 Corinthians 2:14-16

When you come to know Christ, you are given the Holy Spirit who lives inside of you. As He resides within you, He gives you the views, the feelings, and the temperament of Christ. You are able to think like Jesus Christ. You are able to make decisions like Christ would make. You are able to respond to situations as Jesus Christ would.

“How can I do this?” you may ask. “How can I reinforce this ally that fights against my old sinful nature?”

I want to be very practical here. I want to suggest a prayer and a practice. The prayer comes from Robert McGhee’s work, Search for Freedom.

Dear Lord, I have believed the wrong thought of (name the thought). I hate thinking this thought. This thought is not a healthy one for me. It is against what you want me to think. I want to bring my thoughts into obedience to your thoughts. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). I also want to think about things that are worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8) Thank you for forgiving me, for accepting this thought that has affected my life so negatively. I now, by my own free will, choose to replace the wrong thought of (name the thought) with what you want me to think. The next time I think that wrong thought, help me to tell you and change it. Thank you for the truth that sets me free.

The practice: memorize Bible verses. Scripture is the most powerful tool used by the Holy Spirit to renew the mind. Scripture verses, when applied to your heart, can change your life. The Spirit uses the Word. And when the Word is in our hearts, we will advance—not retreat.

by Jerry Lewis

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God  things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

romans 8:26-28

We live in the age of knowledge. If you wan t to know anything, you can find it out! A few years ago, I attended a conference hosted by Josh McDowell. Josh McDowell was an atheist who set out to prove that Christianity was not true. The result of his study was a book entitled More Than a Carpenter in which he beautifully defends the Christian faith. In his talk, he talked about knowledge. I do not remember the exact figures, but it went something like this. From the time of the Romans (near Jesus’ time) until the 1500’s, there was relatively little increase in knowledge. Then came the discovery of the western continents (North and South America) and the expansion of the world. As this happened, knowledge began to increase much faster than before. Knowledge, up until that time, doubled once approximately every 40-50 years. With the industrial revolution, knowledge increased once every 40 years. Then, we entered the 1800’s knowledge began to increase every 20 years. Now, with the advancement in modern technology, knowledge doubles every two years.

 The more we know and the more we can do, the more we doubt and the more we worry.

Our doubts and our worries appear to be commensurable with our knowledge. Whatever were the intentions and hopes of the originators of the idea of progress, certainly they did not intend to make life more insecure or worrisome.

So when we come to a sentence like, “we do not know how” we don’t like it! However, the truth is that many people do not know how to live life as you should. You want to succeed, but success seems to elude you. You want to be a better husband, but you don’t know how. You don’t like how you lose control, but your temper seems to get the best of you. In an age of ever increasing knowledge, we can find comfort in the almost embarrassing phrase, “I don’t know how.”

What happens when we admit that we don’t know how? The Spirit helps. This word helps is a wonderful word in the Greek. The word help in the English doesn’t do this word justice. It more accurately means, “to lend a hand together with, at the same time with one.” What happens?   Here Paul beautifully pictures the Holy Spirit taking hold at our side at the very time of our weakness and before too late. At the moment of weakness, not a moment too soon and not a moment too late, the Holy Spirit comes to our aid, walks alongside us, lends us a hand, and walks with us through the weakness.

Paul wants to drive home the point. He says, “The Spirit Himself” to show that when you are struggling the worst, God does not send a substitute—He comes Himself to your aid. And what does He do? He intercedes. This is the only time this word appears in the New Testament. It is a picturesque word of rescue by one who happens on someone who is in trouble and in his behalf pleads “with unuttered groanings” or with “sighs that baffle words.”

You have a Savior who rescues and the Spirit who regenerates.

Father, thanks for your wonderful gifts, especially Jesus who rescued me from my sin and its deadly result, and the Spirit who enables me to live the life you desire. I know that the fruit of the Spirit will only be produced in me as you work in and through me.

by Jerry Lewis

The day of trouble will come. I’m not trying to be a pessimist here–just realistically saying that difficult days come. Sometimes we can look out on the horizon and see them headed our way–like a menacing storm. At other times they come suddenly, like an unexpected earthquake, and cause the very foundations of our lives to shake.

Psalm 20 anticipates the day of trouble. The king is going out to war–he is marching into imminent danger. The people gather to send him off and they do so with remarkable encouragement.

May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion! May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans! May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!

Psalm 20:1-5

Notice what is missing in their remarks. They never mention how great the king is. They never refer to his mighty stallions, well-built chariots and well-trained army. No! May the Lord, may the name of the God of Jacob, may he…If the king returns victorious, clearly the Lord will have done it.

The king responds in verse 6.

Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand.

Psalm 20:6, ESV

The tiny word now suggests that something happened when the people spoke. The king now knew something he didn’t know before. In a 2016 article in the Atlantic, Julie Beck writes about inner speech.  “We can produce it much faster when we don’t have to go at the pace required to use tongues and lips and voice boxes. One researcher clocks inner speech at an average pace of 4,000 words per minute—10 times faster than verbal speech. And it’s often more condensed—we don’t have to use full sentences to talk to ourselves, because we know what we mean.” We aren’t privy to what the king may have been saying to himself before the people showed up with their prayer of verses 1-6, but one thing we do know…he knows something different now.

Now I know.

Who is interrupting your self talk, speaking truth, praying grace, confronting lies that you tell yourself?

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.

Psalm 20:7-8, ESV

How important is godly interruption! How easily the king could have trusted in his own skill, his mighty army, his horses and chariots!

Now I know.

If no one is speaking truth to you, repent. Find a godly truth-teller. Ask someone to interrupt the self-deceiving inner speech that either makes you a victor in a battle you’re doomed to lose, or a loser in a battle you’re bound to win–all because you are trusting in yourself and not God. Get back to your Life Group, reach out to your accountability partner. Repent.

O Lord, save (put your name here). May he answer us when we call.

by Jerry Lewis

Peter sat in jail, guarded by four squads of soldiers. Herod wanted to make sure he couldn’t escape. Herod had just had James executed and, for all Peter knew, he was next. What Herod underestimated was Peter’s God. And what Peter didn’t know was that, across town, believers gathered to pray. You can read the story in Acts 12:

Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.” (Acts 12:6-11; ESV)

I love the fact that Peter is sleeping! In this passage we see the two ways God works. Jerry Bridges in his work, The Bookends of the Christian Life, says that God works synergistically, combing our effort with his enabling power. In Peter’s predicament, the people prayed and God answered. The people sought God and God broke Peter out of jail!

So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church (Acts 12:5, ESV)

Peter thought he was sleepwalking! Peter’s apparent passivity in his release reveals the other way God works: monergistically. God’s monergistic work is when “he works alone in us and for us but completely independent of us.” (Bridges, 88) Bridges adds: We must understand both ways the power of the Holy Spirit is applied to our lives so we can discern how to contribute effort. The writer of Hebrews provides helpful insight:

Now may the God of peace…equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 13:20-21

The two prayer requests here seem redundant at first, but upon closer inspection, we see that they aren’t. The first is that God will equip us with everything good we need to do his will. This is his synergistic work. Do we need understanding of God’s will? He’ll supply it. Do we need the power to perform it? He’ll provide it. Do we need providential circumstances, materials, people, or other resources? He equips us. But the writer’s second request is that God will work in us whatever is pleasing in his sight. This is his monergistic work. He performs it without our effort, and sometimes in spite of our effort.

On this Monday, pray like this: Father, I thank you that you will equip me for everything I need today (and the rest of this week…and my life!) to do your will. I really need to know your will about _____________________ (fill in the blank). Please reveal it. Also I know, and am grateful, that you will work in spite of me. Thank you! I can’t wait to see what you’re going to do!

by Jerry Lewis

It’s Sunday. The first day of the Christian week. The day that sets the tone for every other day. Perhaps Sunday has come to mean many different things to you. Could I challenge you to see it as the necessary beginning to a good week, the necessary first of many seconds, thirds, twentieths…you get the point.

I’ll see you soon.

by Jerry Lewis

On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning. So it was always: the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night. And whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped. At the command of the LORD the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the LORD they camped. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp.

Numbers 9:15-18

Trusting God, walking by the Spirit, is nothing new.  Israel, when leaving Egypt and headed toward the promised land also learned to trust God.  Their trust was moment-by-moment.  God used a cloud to guide them.  The cloud was cloud-like in the daytime, like fire at night.  Whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, the people pulled up camp and moved.  They stayed as long as the cloud stayed.

Been camping lately?  Remember how hard it was to pull up camp at the end of the week.  Multiply that by 600,000–men!  Plus women and children!  Perhaps two million people on the move.  When the cloud lifted, two million people pulled up camp.  Moses goes on to say that sometimes the cloud stayed a day, sometimes a year!

Are you willing to follow God anywhere, do anything?  Are you so in tune with His presence that when He says to do something, you’ll do it…without asking why?  Or how?

Today, learn to listen to God.  Henry Blackaby says that God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, circumstances, the Church and prayer to reveal Himself.  I imagine that every morning when the Israelites woke up, they looked at the tabernacle to see the Presence of God.

We should, too.

Take time today to seek God–to truly seek His perspective, His heart, His glory.  And then walk in light of His presence.  Simply do what He says.

by Tony Ledbetter

I recently heard a story told on WMIT.  A lady was stopped at a red light.  The light turned green, but the car in front of her evidently stalled and did not move.  The light turned red again.  The lady became very frustrated because she was already running late.  She began to honk her horn and yell out the window.  The next thing she knew there was a police officer standing at her window.  She was asked to pull her car into the parking lot, where she was asked to get out of the car, put in hand cuffs, and taken to the police station.  

The lady sat in the police station for approximately an hour.  She was still fuming.  Finally the police officer came back.  He was very apologetic as he removed her handcuffs.  The lady, still a little angry asked in a heated tone: “just exactly why was I arrested?”  The police officer said “mam, at that red light you were yelling obscenities out of the window, honking your horn, and making some bad gestures.  Then I saw the ‘follow me to church,’ and ‘honk if you love Jesus’ bumper stickers, and chrome fish on the back of the car.  I assumed you had stolen the car.”

I think we all at times struggle with self-control.  Self-control may have to do with temper, eating, or almost any part of our lives.   Just this morning I got some news I did not like.  My voice started to raise in volume with the person on the other end of the phone. This is a person God has put on my heart to plant some seeds with.  What kind of witness would it be if I became angry and yelled at the person I am trying to reach for His kingdom!  Thankfully the Spirit helped me realize almost immediately what I was doing, and that it was not the Godly thing to do. I fall short in this area far too often.

In a quick search I found 21 references to self-control in the Bible.  In those passages self-control is viewed as Godly or good and lack of self-control is associated with evil or sin.  

Jesus always showed self-control.  Think of the night of His betrayal in the garden (Matthew 26:50 – 53):  

And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.  Then Jesus said to him, ‘Put your sword back into its place.  For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.  Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?

Jesus knew what was coming next and yet instead of fleeing or encouraging his group to fight, or even calling down legions of angels he remained calm (self-controlled).  Luke 22:51 even says that Jesus touched the ear of servant and healed him. 

Not only did Jesus maintain His self-control, He took mercy on the one who was against him by healing him. He continued to show self-control through his trial and his crucifixion. If the creator of the universe and our Savior can show self-control in submitting to the mockery of a trial and a cruel death, how much more should we exercise self-control when something does not go our way?

Heavenly Father thank you for giving us the ultimate model of self-control in your son Jesus Christ.  Thank you that He was in full control in the garden, during his trial, and as He was crucified.  Help us to remember that self-control when we are faced with much lesser trials in our daily lives.  Grant us strength through The Holy Spirit to not only remain self-controlled, but to show the same grace that Jesus showed us through his death and resurrection.  In Jesus holy name.  Amen.

by Jerry Lewis

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

galatians 5:17

The Spirit is God’s agent of prevention.  Without the Spirit, no one knows what you might have done by now.  The Spirit “keeps you from doing the things you want to do.”  Someone has already irritated you this morning.  You want to tell them about it.  The Spirit says “no.”

Why is He qualified to speak to such matters?  He knows their heart–you don’t.  He knows what kind of morning they had–you don’t.  He knows them and He knows you.

This is why the war within shouldn’t catch us by surprise.  As a matter of fact, if you can continue in sin without the war, you’re in trouble.  The ability to sin uninhibited points to the absence of the Spirit in your life.  If the Holy Spirit isn’t preventing you from sinning, He will not also prevent you from spending eternity in Hell.  The Spirit who drew you to Jesus is the same Spirit who will prevent you from sinning.

What a great gift we have in the Spirit.

Father, thank you for the gift of the Spirit. Holy Spirit, thank you that you reside in me, that since I’ve been born again, I’ve never again been alone. Thank you that I walk with a traveling companion, with someone by my side (thank you Jesus!) and someone inside (thank you Holy Spirit!). Help me to listen today, to trust, to obey, to do what you’re calling me to do. In Jesus’ strong name. Amen.