2 Corinthians 1:8-11 "We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again, as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many." Today's episode is about how God will rescue us again and again throughout our lives. It also talks about the importance of praying for others. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
We Were So Utterly, Unbearably Crushed
2 Corinthians 1:8-11 "We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again, as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many."
What stood out to me in this verse was the part where it says, “We were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself.” It just made me think of how so many people are feeling that right now. There are so many that are struggling and I would say many of them feel they are utterly and unbearably crushed by the weight of their problems, or the circumstances. I have also been asked to pray for a staggering number of teenagers that feel like they don’t want to live anymore. Life is really hard these days for so many people.
This verse talks about how God saved them from their despair. They felt like they had received the death sentence so they would rely on God instead of themselves. Have you ever been in a position when you had no other choice but to rely on God? Have things been so bad that you couldn’t see any way out? You had to surrender it to God because you had tried everything you could do on your own and you were still struggling. I think sometimes we need these type of circumstances so we can remember that we were aren’t in control and we never were. God has always been the one in control.
Trying to rely on ourselves is normal, we all do it. I remember when I was on a retreat once and I really felt like God told me that I was turning to everyone else but Him. I didn’t understand because I did ask God for help often. He revealed to me that although I do ask Him for help, I don’t sit and wait for an answer. When I wanted to know how to be a better mom, a better, wife, a better Catholic, I would turn to books. I have read so many books about parenting and relationships. I have read books on prayer and the lives of the Saints. I have done a lot of reading and I don’t think that is a bad thing. I think reading is really good. I think was God was telling me though is that I asked Him for help and the proceeded as if I didn’t need it. I was acting like I had to fix it all on my own.
Don’t get me wrong, God does want us to take action sometimes. I do not think He wanted me to sit back and do nothing. What I think He was calling me to, was time with Him. He wanted me to not only ask Him for help, but then to spend the time listening to Him and doing what He wanted me to do. If we ask God questions He will answer, it says so write in the Bible. It says in Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” If we ask God what we should do, He will answer us. However, we can’t hear that answer if we are not listening. I was not listening. I was using God more as a sounding board. I would talk at Him, or maybe to Him, I am not sure, but I wouldn’t talk with Him. It was not an exchange of information. When we talk to God, it is more fruitful if we do it with the expectation that He will talk back with us. It probably won’t be audible words, but He can make His point clear without words.
The next part of the verse says, “He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again.” This is a great reminder that God has rescued us in the past and He will do it again. God will continue to rescue us as we continue to go through the ups and downs of life. We need to set our hope in Him just as they did. We need to keep reminding ourselves that God will continue to rescue us. If we can’t think of a time in our past that God has rescued us we can look back to Scripture and see all the stories where God has rescued His people. When we see these stories they can build our faith as well. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. If He was rescuing people back in the Old Testament, and he rescued people in the New Testament, and He has been rescuing people all throughout History, then He will rescue us too. We can rest our hope in that truth.
The verse ends with, “as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.” I like this ending because it tells us that blessings are granted through the prayers of many. It also shows that even the disciples asked others for prayers. My spiritual mentor was just saying the other day that we don’t realize the power of intercessory prayer. When we pray for someone, whether they asked us to or not, we are adding our prayers with their prayers. When a lot of people are all praying for the same thing, it is more powerful. This is why people ask us to pray. When we say we will pray for someone, we should take that seriously. If you can stop and pray with the right then, that is even better. If not, write it down so you do not forget to pray for the persons. The concept of intercessory prayer is mentioned 80 times in the Bible.
One of the greatest examples of intercession took place when Moses stood before God on behalf of Israel. In Exodus 32:10, God said, “Leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them [the Israelites] and that I may destroy them.” But Moses did not give up. And because God had a relationship with Moses, He allowed Moses to state the case on behalf of the people. In Exodus 32:14, we read that “the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.” God listens to our prayers. Our prayers are important. Your prayers are important. Keep praying for people, we have no idea the importance of those prayers.
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask you to rescue us from any circumstances that make us feel crushed. We ask you to be with everyone who feels they can’t live any longer. We ask you to send your angels to all those who feel they don’t want to go on with life. We ask you to protect them and not to let them take their lives. Lord, we pray in a special way for the kids in the world today. Life is so hard for them and depression and anxiety are on the rise. We ask you to help them to feel loved. We ask you to help the crave your love instead of the broken love of this world. Lord, we ask you to help us be great intercessors for those around us. Help us to take our job as a prayer warrior seriously. Lord, you are amazing. You do so much for us and we are so grateful. We love you and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldy with Jesus. Can I ask you for a favor this Friday morning? If you have read my book, Total Trust In God’s Safe Embrace, could you please go to Amazon and leave a review? People really do read those. Also, if you have not done a review on the podcast, would you consider doing that also? And then the one last thing is would you share this podcast with one other person? Who do you know that could benefit from spending time with scripture each day? Thank you my friends I truly appreciate it! I look forward to seeing you here again on Monday. Remember Jesus loves you and so do I. Have a Blessed weekend!