2022_08_29 Insight Post- Kim Feld

“God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.”

Psalm 46:1-3 NIV

I usually do my Bible reading in the mornings and try to read from both the New and Old Testaments. Currently, I’m reading through Psalms. Today I read Psalm 46. The verses above reminded me of Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 1:8-11. In this passage, Paul talks about the troubles he and his companions had faced in Asia. In verse 9, Paul says it was so bad they thought they would die. There are two things that he says further that caught my attention. First, he says in the second portion of verse 9, “But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” This stood out to me because I have struggled so much with self-reliance.

I mentioned in last week’s post that some of us develop self-reliance as a strategy because our circumstances have led us to believe that we can depend on no one else. We like to think that we can exercise control over our lives by relying only on ourselves, but unfortunately, much of life is outside our control. Although it’s not easy, God wants us to depend on Him. As Psalm 46 says, He is our refuge and strength and is always present and ready to help when we are in trouble.

The second thing that caught my eye was found in verses 10-11. Let’s take a look:

¹⁰ “He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, ¹¹ as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.”

Paul uses the word “hope” again, meaning confidence or trust, and then says, “as you help us by your prayers.” I love how The Message says this:

“And he’ll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing. You and your prayers are part of the rescue operation—I don’t want you in the dark about that either. I can see your faces even now, lifted in praise for God’s deliverance of us, a rescue in which your prayers played such a crucial part.”

Prayer is vital to the Christian life. Praying for ourselves and interceding on behalf of others. Prayer allows us to partner with God! God invites us into what He is doing in the world through our prayers. I’m in awe of that.

I encourage you to do a self-check today, first, about reliance. Who or what do you rely on? Be honest in your self-evaluation.

Second, how’s your prayer life? Self-reliance does not always lend itself to prayerfulness. Do you ask God for the help you need? How about asking others to pray for you? God invites us into community with Himself AND others through our prayers.

Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach