Turn Your Challenges Into Praise Points - Friday Praise & Pray (for others) August 18, 2023

The last few weeks have been very busy and have presented challenges that I wish I didn't have to deal with. They forced me to dig deep into what I knew of God and fight to not forget who He is and what He is capable of.

One day, while looking at an old journal of mine, I saw a simple and practical instruction I'd received years earlier while spending time with the Lord. It was - Our issues are actually praise points as they are an indication of the miracles coming our way. Although the sentence was written in my handwriting, I realized this lesson was one I'd never actually put into practice. Well, as I thought about the words, I knew it was time to change that.

I wrote down the main challenges I was facing in that moment and as I did, the Holy Spirit gave me scriptural references that spoke of God's promises on each issue. I jotted those down too. Then, I took a deep breath and started writing. I turned each problem into a praise point that incorporated scripture and reflected my faith and hope that God had already taken care of it for me. I then set to read that list once a day.

Praise God that in two days, my first praise point came to pass! seeing how God did it for me encouraged and reassured me that I will see what He does with the rest of my praise points shortly.

I want to encourage you to turn your prayer points into praise points. Those problems that have been weighing you down and seem like they will never be resolved are the very ones God wants you to give unto Him. Not just in prayer but also in praise. Acknowledge His might and power by thanking God in advance for the resolution He has already set into motion. Resolution that you will witness and rejoice for.

Do not forget that in taking this approach, I was armed with scripture. I strongly recommend that you do the same. If you don't know what scripture to use, please let this be a reminder that it is time for you to find it in the Bible. After all, faith without works is dead. So, please take the time to marry your faith with the works of seeking the scripture you need.

Take the issue you have and search for that term in the Bible. Also search with related words to pull up the verses that tie to your particular predicament. Don't just pull up random verses though, be sure to ask God for guidance and read the chapter containing the verse to see if it actually applies. If it doesn't, keep searching. It is best to patiently find what you need than to apply the wrong approach.

As a starting point, here are a few verses that are helpful to have in a believer's arsenal. They include

Psalm 23:1 - The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Philippians 4:19 - And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (NKJV).

There are many more. God has liberally given us scripture for every circumstance. Ask Him to lead you to the weapon in His word that will turn your praise point into a ballistic missile that will break through everything standing in the way of what you are waiting for. A godly missile that will reach God and become a sweet-smelling incense that pleases Him.

God bless you.