Have you ever been in a very distressing situation from which you desperately wanted to escape?
You know, one of those gut-wrenching, overwhelming, soul-crushing scenarios that brutalize your body, soul and spirit? It could be the death of a loved one, a sickness or disease of some kind, losing a job, financial distress, a business going down, a broken relationship, betrayal, or the exposure of your own sin. There are many, many scenarios that can grip us so deeply we may not even want to get out of bed, or worse, we may not want to continue living.
I have known a few situations like that over the years. I have had days when all I wanted to do was run away from my life and start all over again somewhere else. I have also had days when all I wanted to do was die. I have had seasons in my life when I felt I was falling into an emotional black hole – I saw no way out, and no hope for any positive resolution.
I have also walked with friends through a wide variety of life’s tragedies: death of a spouse, lost jobs, lost businesses, betrayal, divorce, and reaping the harvest of their own seeds of sin. These are all situations no one wants to find themselves in, and no one wants to repeat them – ever.
Many years ago I went through a particularly horrendous 7 year crucible of the soul. It involved broken relationships, a broken marriage, unemployment, betrayal, a lost career, lost hope, homelessness, and the harvest of my own seeds of sin. Thankfully God’s wonderful grace is far greater than anything we may ever face and the Lord used this incredibly painful death to usher me into His resurrection life with a new heart. I call this my million dollar experience that I would not trade for anything, but never want to repeat.
Through this experience and my experiences with a number of friends in their crucibles I have realized there are 4 critical factors that enable men to overcome their “deaths” and enter into the resurrection life God has for them. I have also seen other men who did not embrace these factors and, therefore, didn’t enter into the life God had for them.
Let me elaborate on the 4th point: “Out of” prayers are those prayers that focus on begging God to get us out of whatever overwhelming situations in which we may find ourselves. They are escape prayers. They focus on getting out of whatever uncomfortable situation we are in so we can begin to feel good again. They are self-centered prayers: “I want to feel better, so get me ‘out of’ this.”
There is certainly room to pray prayers of deliverance. Even Jesus, when confronted with the reality of the cross, expressed His desire to escape the cross, but submitted to His Father’s will knowing God had a bigger purpose than simply His comfort and well-being.
The prayer of a surrendered heart is to invite God “into” our situation so we can discover His purpose, His plan, and His heart for us and through us. “Lord, I really want to be free from this situation, but I want You and Your purposes in me and through me more than my own comfort. So, would you work your good will in me and give me the grace to die to myself and discover your resurrection life. Lord crucify me so I can experience Your resurrection life.”
Humility is the key to unlocking the grace of God in the midst of our sufferings. Praying God-centered prayers by inviting the Lord into our sufferings will enable us to discover Him, His purposes for us and through us, and receive His grace for whatever we may be facing.
Praying “into” prayers focuses us on the heart and purposes of God, and speeds our death to self so that we may live in Jesus’ resurrection life.
Luke 22:42
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Philippians 3:10-11
“I want to know Christ-yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”
Matthew 10:38-39
“Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
Galatians 2:20 (The Living Bible)
“I have been crucified with Christ: and I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the real life I now have within this body is a result of my trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”