The Power of Prayer in Perseverance

By Dean Collins

None of us wants to think that our work resulted in nothing. But I suspect that like me, you have had moments when you wondered if all the work you did accomplished what you had hoped it would. In seasons of hard work, the enemy wants us to believe his lies that our work doesn’t really matter. The apostle Paul faced times where it would have been easy for him to believe the lies of the enemy, but we know that Paul had spiritual disciplines which prevented him from falling into the trap of the enemy and his lies.

It seems that prayer was one of Paul’s greatest disciplines and strategies to keep his focus on the main thing and not become too discouraged over what he could not control, which, of course, was both people and outcomes.

There are assignments from God that are short, and then there are those that require considerable investment. I suspect most of us would prefer the short assignments. I suspect we get far more of those than we realize, but that is for a different day’s devotional. Today is about the longer assignments, especially those that don’t seem to resolve easily or the way we had hoped. I think the church at Corinth was one of those assignments that proved to be a test of Paul’s patience.

Luke tells us in Acts 18 that Paul spent a year and a half planting and nurturing this church. The geography of the city of Corinth meant that this church had significant strategic advantages. Two sea ports, a large population, and lots of people from different nations and regions all meant that a strong church could use these factors to advance the gospel easily.

After Paul left Corinth and was in Ephesus, he wrote to the church in Corinth because some visitors had personally informed him as to what was happening there and because some in the church had written him with questions. Paul had attempted to address the questions and issues but had learned that things were still trending in the wrong direction spiritually, so he wrote 1 Corinthians to address the issues and hopefully get things in a healthy place.

Over and over again in Paul’s letters to the churches he planted, we discover one of the greatest gifts and tools we have to accomplish God’s will: prayer. The Corinthian church had significant issues, including divisiveness and sexual morality, yet when Paul wrote first Corinthians, he opens with prayer:

“I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge — even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you — so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

How many times have we rushed into communication in person or by email or text without stopping to pray? There are many times where things are not stressful, so we might feel there is no need for prayer. There are other times we are so frustrated with someone or some situation that we are not in the right frame of mind to pray. The truth is we would do well to always pray, as Paul encouraged in many of his epistles.

Paul was thankful for this church that he had invested in for a year and a half, and he was thankful that God is the giver of grace. Paul reminded the church in Corinth and us that we are enriched in Christ in speech and knowledge through the testimony of Christ. In other words, we have everything we need in Christ to accomplish the mission God gives us. When we abide in Christ, rejoice in Christ, pray continuously, and lead with gratitude, God will correct us, provide for us, and deliver us. Based on Paul’s life, God will also give clarity to what we are to say and do and supply us with patience.

Dear Father, thank you for your marvelous grace that allows us to come before you. We thank you for the forgiveness of our many sins. We ask that as we face both people we love and people we struggle to love that you will indeed give us wisdom in our conversations and grace in our behavior towards them. Thank you that your love, wisdom, and grace are sufficient for all our needs. In Jesus’ name, amen

Your Time with God’s Word
1 Corinthians 1:4-9 ESV

Photo by Yanin Diaz on Unsplash
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