30 DAYS OF PRAYER | DAY 14 – Praying for Desire and Power to Please God
“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” Philippians 2:13
There are days in my life where I feel God is close to me, that He is pleased with me and that I am completely satisfied in Him. In those moments, I read the above verse and think to myself, “yes, this is true!” In those moments, I am eager to spend time in His word and to engage in the work he has called me to.
There are other days where I feel God is far from me, that He’s really disappointed with me, and feel totally unable to please God. In those moments, I read the above verse and pray that it would be true, because I’m not feeling any sense of desire for doing what He wants me to do.
But regardless of how I’m feeling, I’m really thankful that God included this verse, this promise in the Bible. I’m thankful that when I’m really feeling weak or when I lack motiviation, God enables me to persevere through those emotions and do what He wants me to do. I’m thankful that God has not conditioned his promises upon the ever-changing state of our emotions. I’m thankful that this verse is true.
As we set out to plant this new church on January 12th, I am asking God to give us the desire and power to do what pleases Him. There will be times where we completely desire to do what pleases him, but will not have the strength to carry out the work before us. There will be other times where we have the resources, strength, and ability to do what pleases God, but lack the conviction, the motivation that comes from delighting in the work that God has called us to. I pray that God would give us also the power to do what pleases him when we are weak, and the desire to do what pleases him when we are strong.
This post was written by Chris Gray, Associate Pastor at Redemption Church.
–January 12th is a very big day for Redemption Church! Thank you for praying with us! For more information about the launch of Redemption Church and how you can pray for us, please click here.