Don't Give Up!

MARGARET ENGLISH DE ALMINANA

If you’re accustomed to praying in the power of Holy Spirit, you’ve probably experienced seasons of spiritual warfare. Sometimes it may seem as if all hell is breaking loose—literally.

People may seem to get mad at you for no reason. Others may begin gossip campaigns. Your car breaks down and the kids act up. Your husband says you are spending too much time in prayer. Your friends tell you to back off—that you’re just no fun anymore. In these seasons, problems can feel as though they are pouring into your life from every angle, and you can end up feeling misunderstood, confused, rejected and alone.

But you’re not alone! Seasoned intercessors all experience such problems. In fact, they say they expect them—and rejoice because they believe they are making progress in prayer.

True Faith Looks to God

WILLIAM WILBERFORCE

 

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William Wilberforce

Perhaps the struggles we endure in trying to live for Christ are due to our faulty understanding of Christianity

All the defects of the faith of many people in our day can be traced to a misunderstanding or lack of understanding of the foundational doctrines of the faith they profess: the true state of human nature, the truth of what Christ accomplished on the cross and the transforming influence of the Holy Spirit. Here is the watershed between nominal Christians and those who truly practice the faith that Christ came to make possible. The difference is so critical that I will attempt to further illustrate the problem.

Many people give no serious consideration to Christ and spend their lives drifting along with the culture's ideas of the good life. Then, through some circumstance, these people experience a wake-up call about their faith.

Taking Sides

He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall. EPHESIANS 2:14

Simon and Chana Taub of Brooklyn broke up housekeeping after 20 years of marriage—divorcing and going their separate ways. Sort of.

He went to the living room on the first floor, and she took the bedroom level on the third floor. And just to be sure they didn't bump into each other on the second floor—to which they both had partial access—a judge ordered that a partition be erected at the staircase, blocking them from accidentally crossing paths.

Now, I've seen the pictures of it myself on the Internet. An actual slab of white drywall, cut to fit a doorway opening in their richly ornate home. It's a stark representation of the stubborn walls of isolation that are nailed up in far too many homes across our land. Walls of silence. Walls of distance. Walls of unresolved issues. Walls built to the thickest dimensions with the materials of misunderstanding, impatience, annoyance and ridicule.