A pack of hyenas surrounded a lone lioness. When the cackling beasts attacked, the lioness fought back. Biting, clawing, growling, and roaring in a desperate attempt to ward off her enemies, she finally fell. As the clan engulfed her, another lioness came to the rescue with three helpers only seconds behind her. Though outnumbered, the big cats fought off the hyenas until they scattered. The lionesses stood together, scanning the horizon as if expecting another attack.
Believers in Jesus desperately need help from others too. The most powerful help we can offer is prayer. The apostle Paul wrote in a letter to the church in Rome, “I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me” (Romans 15:30). Paul asked them to pray that he would “be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea” and that the “Lord’s people” would receive him and his gifts “favorably” (v. 31). He acknowledged the rewards of being a part of their community (v. 32). He stood with them in prayer, too, ending his letter with a blessing: “The God of peace be with you all” (v. 33).
As we live for Jesus, we’ll face adversaries in the physical and spiritual realms. God promises to be with us and fight on our behalf, however, as we stand together . . . always ready to pray.
Kayla’s brow furrowed as she shoved yet another slip of paper into an overstuffed box labeled “Give It to God” on all four sides. Sighing deeply, she sifted through the written prayers she had previously placed in the box. “I read them out loud almost every day,” she said to her friend. “How can I be sure God hears me?” Chantel handed Kayla her Bible. “By trusting that God keeps His word,” she said, “and letting go every time you write or read a prayer you’ve released into His hands.”
The apostle Paul urged believers in Jesus to “rejoice in the Lord” and gave good reason to do so by affirming, “The Lord is near” (Philippians 4:4-5). He encouraged God’s people to trade anxious thoughts for faith-filled prayers, to believe He receives every request, and to praise Him while resting in the unfathomable peace of His never-ending presence (vv. 6-7).
The Prince of Peace—Jesus—guards our emotional and mental well-being when we turn our thoughts toward qualities that point to Him, things that are “true,” “right,” “pure,” and “praiseworthy” (v. 8).
The peace of God protects us when we trust that the God of peace is with us. Liberated from the burden of clinging to concerns, we can experience peace in the release of every prayer into God’s trustworthy hands.
With the referee’s final gesture, wrestler Kennedy Blades became a 2024 Olympian. She pressed her palms together, lifted her hands and eyes to the heavens, and gave God glory. A reporter asked about her growth over the past three years. The elite athlete didn’t even mention her physical training. “I’ve just gotten super close to Jesus,” she said. Professing Christ as King, she proclaimed that He’s coming again and encouraged others to believe in Him. “It’s Him,” she said. “That’s the main reason why I was able to accomplish such a big thing.” In other interviews, she faithfully declared that Jesus is everything to her and the reason for everything good in her life.
This passion for living a God-centered life reflects David’s confessions in Psalm 63. Acknowledging his desperation for his creator, he said, “I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you” (v. 1). David had “seen” God and “beheld” His “power” and “glory” (v. 2). He declared God’s steadfast love as “better than life” (v. 3). Then, he prayed: “Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me” (vv. 7-8). God was clearly everything to David.
Our lives can be beacons that point others to a life-saving relationship with God when Jesus becomes our reason, our everything.
When Dianne Dokko Kim and her husband discovered their son was diagnosed with autism, she struggled with the very real possibility that her cognitively disabled son might outlive her. She cried out to God: What will he do without me to care for him? God surrounded her with a support system of other adults raising children with disabilities. He empowered Dianne to trust Him with her often-unexplainable guilt, feelings of inadequacy, and fear. Eventually, in her book Unbroken Faith, Dianne offered hope for “spiritual recovery” to other adults raising children with disabilities. As her son enters adulthood, Dianne’s faith remains intact. She trusts God will always care for her and her son.
Uncertainties in life can harden our hearts toward God. We may be tempted to place our faith in other things or people, including ourselves. We can, however, depend on “the Rock of our salvation” (Psalm 95:1)—a phrase that points to the certainty of God’s character. “In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land” (vv. 4-5).
We can live with unbroken faith, worshiping our “
Thousands of people around the world prayed for Sethie’s three-year-old son, who’d been hospitalized for months. When doctors said Shiloh had “no meaningful brain activity,” Sethie called me. “Sometimes, I’m scared I’m not living with full faith,” she said. “I know God can heal Shiloh and let him come home with us. I’m also at peace if God heals him by taking him to heaven.” Assuring her that God understands like no one else can, I said, “You’ve surrendered to God. That is full faith!” A few days later, God took her precious son to heaven. Though struggling with the grief of losing him, Sethie thanked God and the many people who prayed. She said, “I believe God is still good and still God.”
In this world, until Jesus comes again, we’ll “suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (1 Peter 1:6). We’ll need to process real emotions caused by real pain. However, everyone who experiences “new birth” in Christ (v. 3) can be anchored in life by love for Christ and be “filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy” (v. 8). The end result of our faith in Jesus is this: “the salvation of [our] souls” (v. 9).
The Holy Spirit empowers us to have full faith—living with our prayers and our situations confidently surrendered to Christ.
One year, I agreed to sing a song before one of my son’s sporting events. I practiced for weeks, but I knew the song by heart already. So when I walked onto the field with the teams lined up on both sides of me, I closed my eyes and prayed. I started singing the first few lines. Then, I froze. In that moment I couldn’t remember the next line. A man behind me whispered the words I’d forgotten. As soon as I heard the helpful reminder, I belted out the rest of the lyrics with confidence.
We all need a little help sometimes. In John 14, Jesus explained that we love Him by obeying Him, and He promised to ask the Father to give us a Helper—“the Spirit of truth” (vv. 15-16). Jesus said, “The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (v. 17). Though Jesus taught the disciples a lot while with them (v. 25), He said “the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (v. 26).
As we prayerfully read the Bible, the Holy Spirit helps us interpret, understand, and apply God’s Word. His leading always aligns with Scripture—guiding, comforting, and transforming us in love, one helpful reminder at a time.
One day, while serving as my mom’s live-in caregiver, we visited an art exhibit. We were emotionally and physically drained. I gazed at two wooden row boats filled with colorful blown glass shapes inspired by Japanese fishing lures and flower arrangements. The display sat in front of a black wall on a reflective surface—the Ikebana and Float Boats. Speckled, spotted, and striped glass orbs, like oversized gumballs, were piled into the smaller boat. From the hull of the second boat, long, twisted, and curved glass sculptures rose like vibrant flames. The artist had shaped each piece of molten glass through the refining fires of the glassblowing process.
Tears streaked my cheeks as I imagined God’s caring hand holding me and my mom—His beloved children—through our hardest days. As God shapes the character of His people through refining fires in life, He affirms that our hope comes from being known and knowing we belong to Him (Isaiah 43:1). Though we can’t escape hardship, God promises to protect us and be present (v. 2). His identity and His love for us make His promises secure (vv. 3-4).
When life’s circumstances heat up, we may feel fragile. We may even be fragile. But God holds us firmly in love, no matter how blazing hot the furnace gets. We are known. We are loved. We are His!
One winter day in Michigan, a delivery man noticed an elderly woman shoveling snow off her driveway. He stopped and convinced the eighty-one-year-old to let him finish the job. Concerned that he would be late delivering his other packages, she retrieved another shovel. They worked side by side for almost fifteen minutes as her neighbors watched from afar. “I’m thankful you helped me,” she said. “You’re God-sent.”
During a conversation with an expert in the law, Jesus redefined the concept of loving our neighbors. When Jesus asked him to interpret the law he knew so well, the expert said, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ ” (Luke 10:25-27).
Then Jesus shared a story about two religious leaders who ignored a robbery victim, while a Samaritan—a person most Jewish leaders in those days considered inferior—sacrificed to help the man in need (vv. 30-35). When the expert of the law realized that the one who had mercy on the man had loved like a neighbor, Jesus encouraged him to do likewise (vv. 36-37).
Loving others isn’t always easy or convenient. But as Jesus overwhelms us with His love for us, He’ll help us love all our neighbors as the Good Samaritan helped the man in need.
One day at church, I greeted a visiting family. I knelt next to their little girl’s wheelchair, introduced her to my service dog, Callie, and complimented her pretty pink glasses and boots. Though she was nonverbal, her smile told me she enjoyed our conversation. Another little girl approached, avoiding eye contact with my new friend. She whispered, “Tell her I like her dress.” I said, “You tell her. She’s kind, just like you.” I explained how easy it was to speak with our new friend even though she communicated differently, and how looking at her and smiling would help her feel accepted and loved.
In Scripture and in this world, people are often excluded because they’re perceived as different. However, our great God celebrates our differences and invites us into relationship with Him and His family. In Psalm 138, David said, “I will praise you,
God, exalted and holy, looks kindly on us, His created ones, especially when we humble ourselves. As we ask Him to help us look kindly on and behave kindly toward others, we can thank Him for affirming that we’re lowly and loved!
