Power of a Praying Woman 10/17/06 9:02 AM Page 188
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The Power of a Praying Woman
have to pray that when we go through dif?cult times, He will give us a greater sense of His comfort in it. Tough times happen to everyone at one time or another. Pain and loss are a part of life. There are many different reasons why these things occur, but God is always there to bring good out of it when we invite Him to. If we understand the different possibilities for our suffering, it will help us overcome our pain and see our faith grow in the midst of it.
Four Good Reasons for Dif?cult Times
1. Sometimes dif?cult things happen to us so that the glory and power of God can be revealed in and through us. When Jesus passed by a man who was born blind, His disciples asked Him if the man’s blindness was because he had sinned or because his parents had sinned. Jesus replied, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him” (John 9:3). We may not be able to understand why certain things are happening at the time, and we may never know why we have to go through them until we go to be with the Lord, but when we turn to God in the midst of dif?cult situations, God’s glory will be seen in them and on you. 2. God uses dif?cult times to purify us. The Bible says, “Since Christ suffered for us in the ?esh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the ?esh has ceased from sin” (1 Peter 4:1). This means our suffering during dif?cult times will burn sin and sel?shness out of our lives. God allows suffering to happen so that we will learn to live for Him and not for ourselves. So that we will pursue His will and not our own. It’s not pleasant at the time, but God’s desire is “that we may be partakers of His holiness” (Hebrews 12:10). He wants