Sunday Sermonettes #091
When Unanswered Prayers Shake Your Faith
The battle in your mind to quit believing in God peaks when prayers are not answered according to your expectations. You might have prayed for a long time—in earnest—yet nothing happened.
God’s Streams in the Desert Season
Life might be going through a dry, barren season: a desert experience right now. It is at this very time that God is willing to make streams flow in the desert, or pour water on dry ground..
There shall be showers of blessing—a quiet time of renewal and refreshing—when inexplicably, God moves mightily within your heart. Your torment of doubt will give way to a steady peace.
Others, too, will see the strength and resilience God is forging in you through this season, and they will see the reality of his grace sustaining you. And they too will praise God.
Walking by Faith Through Darkness and Doubt
God’s promises to hold you through tough times are many. His guidance is sure, even though for a long time it seems you are being asked to walk by faith alone in the dark.
When God speaks a word of wisdom into your heart, the grip of fear loses its power. Even if the future remains unclear, you can move forward with confidence in the Lord and in his mighty power. He changes times and seasons.
How the Spirit of God Works in Hidden Seasons
Who is the instrument of this change? The Spirit of God—mighty and compassionate at the same time—is the One who will accomplish amazing things for you. He has been moving in the shadows, preparing your heart in your dry season when nothing seemed to happen.
See, God’s greatest work of preparing you happens when your life is in the shadows, when you are broken, and when you feel hopelessness and despair. It is a time—a desert experience—when you feel forsaken by God. A time when it seems that your prayers never reach God, and God’s love doesn’t seem real.
From Dryness to Renewal: God’s Promise of Restoration
But now is the time God is sending streams into the same desert experience of your life. There will be joy and jubilation. There will be praise and thanksgiving. There will be a looking forward with hope. There will be restoration, which only God can accomplish.
Thank God that he has this wondrous work of pouring out his refreshing waters in barren places. When it is most unlikely, God makes something new happen. It can come like a sudden filling of water in the dry, barren places of your life.
Featured image courtesy: Image by Pat Smith from Pixabay
For the Biblical basis of this article see:
- Genesis 1:2 (The Spirit hovering over the dark, chaotic waters)
- Job (The book as a whole, regarding suffering without immediate explanation or relief)
- Psalm 40:1–3 (God pulls the Psalmist out of a dark, sinking pit and gives him a new song, causing many others to see it and put their trust in the Lord)
- Isaiah 35:6 (Waters breaking forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert)
- Isaiah 43:19-20 (God making a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert)
- Isaiah 44:3 (God pouring water on thirsty land and his Spirit on offspring)
- Isaiah 50:10 (Trusting in the Lord when walking in darkness with no light)
- Ezekiel 34:26 (God sending down showers of blessing in their season)
- Daniel 2:21 (God changing the times and the seasons)
- 2 Corinthians 5:7 (Walking by faith, not by sight)
- Philippians 4:12-13 (Finding contentment and strength in Christ across all changing circumstances)
- Hebrews 11:35-39 (The “Hall of Faith” highlighting believers who endured suffering without receiving immediate physical deliverance.
Every Drop of Blood
Would You Be Free from the Burden of Sin
