FOUR WAYS TO RESTORE YOUR STRENGTH | BIBLE STUDY | MIKE PRAH
INTRODUCTION
- The pressures of daily life can be overwhelming at times. Life's stresses can sometimes make anyone want to give up. We are facing adversity more than ever before, and it appears to be getting worse.
- The struggle is not just physical fatigue, it is emotional exhaustion and a spiritual battle.
- This teaching discusses four biblical principles on how to handle emotional exhaustion in life.
KEY VERSES
“In this world, you will have trouble” (John 16:33 NIV).
“God heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3 NIV)
1. HONESTLY TELL GOD WHAT YOU’RE FEELING
“Unload all your burden on to him, since He is concerned about you” (1 Peter 5:7 NJT).
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God already knows everything we feel.
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God understands our feelings better than we do.
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God loves to listen to us.
“Lord, You have examined me and know all about me … You know my thoughts before I think them. You know everything. Lord, even before I say a word, You already know it” (Psalm 139:1-4 NCV)
“You, Lord, know every one of my deepest desires, and my noisy groans are no secret to you.” (Psalm 38:9 CEV)
Jesus: Your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him!” (Matthew 6:8 NLT)
“When I kept things to myself, I felt weak deep inside me. I moaned all day long” (Psalm 32:3 NCV).
“While Jesus lived on earth, He prayed to God and asked God for help. He prayed with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and His prayer was heard because He trusted God” (Hebrews 5:7 NCV).
2. HUMBLY ASK GOD FOR STRENGTH
“Seek the LORD and His strength; seek his presence continually! (1 Chronicles 16:11 ESV)
“He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:29-31 (NCV)
“Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7 GW).
“Get up and pray for help all through the night. Pour out your feelings to the Lord, as you would pour water out of a jug” (Lamentations 2:19 CEV).
3. GRATEFULLY THANK GOD FOR ALL THAT IS GOOD DESPITE THE DIFFICULTY
“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT).
Job teaches you should thank God even when you’ve lost it all because:
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God will protect you (Job 5:11).
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God is a good and loving God (Job 10:12).
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God notices every detail of your life (Job 23:10, 31:4).
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God has a good plan for your life (Job 23:14).
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God is in control (Job 34:13).
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God is all-powerful (Job 36:22, 37:5,23).
“Even though the fig trees have no fruit, and no grapes grow on the vines, even though the olive crop fails, and the fields produce no grain, even though the sheep all die, and the cattle stalls are empty, I’ll STILL BE JOYFUL AND GLAD, because the Lord God is my Savior” (Habakkuk 3:17-18 GN, emphasis added).
4. CONSTANTLY KEEP YOUR FOCUS ON GOD
“Run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NLT).
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18:
"That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT)
These three verses are a powerful reminder of how we should face trouble in this world.
"That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.” ”(2 Corinthians 4:16a)
- Therefore, in light of the power of God at work on our behalf—we do not give up. We can keep going since we know the truth: Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. Though our bodies grow older and decay, we believers are becoming strengthened in “our inner person,” which is where our treasure is (2 Corinthians 4:7)
“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long” (2 Corinthians 4:16b)
- Remember that our problems are just temporary.
- Negative circumstances have a positive effect when we trust and obey God through them.
“Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever” (2 Corinthians 4:17)
- The pain and suffering of this life can be truly awful. But when the input of affliction is compared to the output of glory that Christ is accomplishing on our behalf, Paul insists that the difference between them is like night and day.
“So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever ”(2 Corinthians 4:18)