What do we do in troubled, difficult times of suffering and hardship?
Habakkuk teaches us to PRAY BY FAITH!
In order to PRAY BY FAITH,
WE DISCOVER PEACE IN GOD’S GOODNESS
Habakkuk DISCOVERED peace in God’s GOODNESS through PRAYER.
Not just praying, but HOW he prayed. He spent time ALONE with GOD in PRAYER,
Habakkuk 1:2 (NIV), How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen?
Habakkuk 2:1 (NLT), I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guard post. There I will wait to see what the LORD says and how he will answer my complaint.
How prays like that? What sounds audacious to you, God hears as authenticity.
Each time Habakkuk prayed like this, those prayers are followed by a response,
Habakkuk 2:2 (NLT), Then the LORD said to me…
The timeless principles revealed in the conversation between Habakkuk and God.
Habakkuk TRUSTS in GOD'S GOODNESS:
Habakkuk 3:1, 2 (NIV), A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet… 2 LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day…
The METHOD of Discovering PEACE IN GOD’S GOODNESS THROUGH PRAYER that Habakkuk modeled is explained by Paul,
Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV), Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Paul’s not instructing that feeling anxious is wrong. BUT that we can overcome those anxieties and deep moments of anguish through prayer.
Not just casual prayer, but a powerful, PEACE-producing prayer. How?
What did Habakkuk do and Paul instruct?
Step 1: PRAY- express request or concern to God. Tell God what you want him to do.
Step 2: THEN BEAR or PETITION. Tell God why you want him to do it. Petitioning is a desperate cry of explaining they why behind the what.
Lay open the fears, weights, burdens of life. God is not afraid of our anguish or despair. Lay it open before Him.
Not only pray to ask God for what you need, but explain to Him your worries and fears that lay under those requests.
When we SHARE our fears and anxieties with God, we will SURRENDER those to Him.
Habakkuk submitted His troubles and sorrow to God.
Step 3: PEACE- Then, in surrender and vulnerable SHARING, God gives us a gift of PEACE,
Habakkuk 3:18-19 (NIV), …yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. 2 The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.
In surrender, we discover the PEACE IN GOD that Paul said is beyond all understanding.
Incomprehensible to have inner rest under such weights, troubles, or overwhelming circumstances. SUPERNATURAL!
Step 4: GUARDED- This PEACE will “will GUARD your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
“GUARD” means to “referee” In surrender, peace “governs” our heart and minds, like a referee calling fouls and keeping our thoughts, attitudes, and anxious heart from running out-of-bounds. He keeps us from getting derailed. Peace protects us IN GOD through trouble.
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