God Promises to Help in Dark Places

 When you are going through hard trials, God promises to help. Here are some Bible promises that you can rely on. 

You are weak, but you refuse to stop believing.. God will reward you.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Mt 5:3 NIV

You are broken, misunderstood, mistreated, but you refuse to blame God. God wants to comfort you.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Mt 5:4 NIV 

You are in a dark place. You see no way out, but the light of God's love shines in the darkness.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Jn 1:5 NIV

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Ps 23:4 NASB95

You are in trouble, but Jesus is on your side. Don't give up!

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Jn 16:33 NIV

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Rom 8:31 NIV

When you are mistreated, never give in to hate and bitterness. God still loves you. Never give in.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Rom 12:21 NIV

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. Jas 1:12 NIV

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Ps 23:4 NASB95

 God is our shelter and strength,. always ready to help in times of trouble. 

So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken. Ps 46:1-2 Good News Bible
 

Jesus Wants You to be Free

 Jesus died to set you free.
Jesus died to save you from eternal death, to free you from despair and endless hopelessness, without God, without friendship, without comfort.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NRSVue
 
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Rom 8:1 NRSVue

Jesus died to free you from your twisted, selfish human nature.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Cor 5:17 NKJV

Jesus died to free you from loneliness.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Cor 13:14 NIV

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 Jn 1:7 NIV

Jesus died to free you from sickness.

… “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.” Mt 8:17 NRSVue

Jesus died to free you from legalism.

Welcome those who are weak in faith but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. 
Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. 
Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat, for God has welcomed them.

 Who are you to pass judgment on slaves of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand. 
Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds.

 Those who observe the day, observe it for the Lord. Also those who eat, eat for the Lord, since they give thanks to God, while those who abstain, abstain for the Lord and give thanks to God.
Those who do not eat meat do so for the glory of the Lord, and they also give thanks to God. Rom 14:1–6 NRSVue

Jesus died to free us from authoritarian leadership.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Eph 5:21 NIV

Submission is mutual.

 You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! 
In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. 2 Cor 11:19–20 NIV

Here Paul teaches through the Holy Spirit that Christians have the right, even the duty, to resist arrogant, authoritarian, or cruel church leaders. 

God sacrificed Jesus to free women from the arrogant rule of men.

 The extreme subordination of women was not God's intention in creation. After the Fall, God sadly predicted that because of sin, women would be enslaved by men.

To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labour you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Gen 3:16 NIV

But in the new covenant, women are free.

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Gal 3:28 NIV

It is wonderful that Jesus wants to give us freedom, but we do not receive that freedom automatically.
 
There are people everywhere who do not believe in freedom, even in the church.

 There are many people who do not want to allow you to be free.

But Paul says:

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Gal 5:1 NRSVue

Comfort from God

 You are weak, but you keep believing. God will reward you.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Mt 5:3 NIV

You are broken, misunderstood, mistreated, but you refuse to blame God. God wants to comfort you.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Mt 5:4 NIV

You are in a dark place. You see no way out, but the light of God's love shines in the darkness.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Jn 1:5 NIV

You are in trouble, but Jesus is on your side. Don't give up!

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Jn 16:33 NIV

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Rom 8:31 NKJV

When you are mistreated, never give in to hatred and bitterness. God still loves you. Never give up.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Rom 12:21 NKJV

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 
Jas 1:12 NKJV

God will not Fail You

 Those who are faithful can always expect God's help. God never abandons his faithful children. How can you be more faithful than God?

David was God's faithful servant, but he was persecuted by King Saul. His life was in danger and he had to find refuge in a cave. In his distress, he prayed fervently.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to you for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until the danger passes by.
I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfil his purpose for me. Ps 57:1–2 NLT

When we are in deep trouble, whether we are to blame or innocent like David, we must seek the Lord with all our heart.

He will never let you down.

If you fail but still choose to stand by Jesus, you can expect God's grace and mercy.
God saved David again and again.
God trained David through many hard trials so that he became the greatest of all kings.

Do you want to fulfil your calling from God? Then you can expect hard trials.
God always has a plan to lead you out of every trouble.

Often you don't know how to pray.
Jesus has given you his Holy Spirit to help you in your weakness.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. Rom 8:26–27 NIV

Paul was also often in impossible situations, but God saved him again and again and healed him of terrible wounds, otherwise he would not have been able to continue.

Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes.
Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. 2 Cor 11:24–25 NASB95

Paul had to suffer so much. Nevertheless, he wrote:

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Rom 8:31 NIV

God's almighty weapons in your hands.
Proclaim God's word.
Intercession. The marvellous gift of grace to pray in languages we have never learned.

God Wants to Help You

 Jesus wants to bless you a lot, not just a little here and there. He wants to help you. You may have read this idea in the Bible or heard it in a sermon. 

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. Jn 10:10 NASB95

You are a believing Christian. You believe in the Bible, but somehow you experience blessings here and there, but also frustration.

Today God wants to encourage you. He wants to refresh the dry areas of your life.

Imagine you have fruit trees. Some are thriving and bearing fruit, but others are just leaves.

At home you find love, but at the office you find frustration, or maybe vice versa.

In your private prayer time you find joy and peace, but in church you find stress.

Everything in your life matters to Jesus. Nothing is unimportant because God loves you completely.

God wants to help you in the difficult areas of your life.

He is waiting for your cry for help.

‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ Jer 33:3 NASB95

God Promises and does not Lie

 The devil twists God's words to destroy your trust in God.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Gen 3:1 NIV

If you are seriously ill, you should read this.

When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. Mt 8:16 NIV

Then you hear someone say that these healings were only meant for that time, or that such stories of demons are just pious legends because people 2000 years ago didn't understand anything about psychiatry.

Then you look at the Psalms:

He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. Ps 103:3 NLT

The same God who promises to forgive all your sins, also promises in the same verse to heal all your diseases. Your eternal life depends on the forgiveness of God. Your healing depends on the same faithful promise of the same loving God.

Then you see many Christians who have been sick for a long time. You start to think that God wants you to suffer so that you can be sanctified. It's all rubbish, but the devil knows his trade.

Jesus said:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. Jn 10:10 NIV

God loves you. When he promises forgiveness and healing, he does not lie.

Bible Texts to Help You Pray

 Here are some Bible texts with short comments to help you pray.

Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. Ps 8:2 NIV

God hears the prayers of young children and newly converted Christians. Are you not a hero of faith? No matter, let God hear the cry of your heart. He wants to help you and perhaps surprise you.

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Mt 7:7–8 NLT

• Maybe you're praying and you're not getting an answer. Don't worry about it. God wants to hear you. Please don't give up.

• Seek more help.

• Seek more wisdom in the Bible so that you can pray better.

• Ask other Christians to pray with you.

• Ask God to give you intuitive insight into how to pray.

• Ask God to reveal to you if you are clinging to a sinful attitude so that your faith is blocked.

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognise that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. 1 Jn 3:1 NLT

Do you believe in Jesus? You must understand that God wants to bless you.

What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Rom 8:31–32 NRSV

There are some Christians who have a distorted image of God. They see themselves as wretched sinners who deserve nothing and therefore should not expect much from God.

When the prodigal son returned to his father in Luke 15, he asked for the grace to serve as a servant. How did the father respond?

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. Lk 15:22–23 NIV

Are you weak in faith? You know that nothing is impossible for God, but you doubt whether your weak faith is enough to get an answer.

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.

Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” Mt 13:31–32 NIV

Start small and never give up. Your little faith can grow until you know God better and your faith becomes strong.

Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Ps 37:4 NIV

DON'T LIMIT GOD. HIS BEST IS FOR YOU

Psalm 103:2-4 (NIV) A Psalm of DAVID

• Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-
• who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 
• who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 

Here David is encouraging himself my meditating on the promises of God for himself. We all need to do this when we are down or in need. 

• If you tell me you are never down or you don’t have any unmet needs I don’t believe you.

Clearly David believes God’s promises are comprehensive. 

• He is saved from the pit of despair and damnation. 

• God forgives all his sins and also heals all his diseases. 

ALL is a bold word. 

• If you believe for ALL these things, you have a very bold faith, and rather controversial because many people want to believe for forgiven sins but not too much more.

You might say David was a specially chosen prophet and king, a special favourite of God. Maybe he is just talking about his own special privileges with God.

• So is David just talking about himself and a few specially chosen ones?

The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. Psalm 103:6 (NIV) 

Here is this word ALL again but this time it is not only ALL sins forgiven and ALL diseases healed but God’s miraculous power and favour available to ALL who need help.

Who is included in God’s favour?

He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: Psalm 103:7 (NIV) 

In the Old Testament, God worked mighty miracles for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and many other heroes of faith but God also forgave, healed, protected and saved ALL the people of Israel when they escaped from Egypt and crossed the Red Sea.

He also brought them out with silver and gold, And there was none feeble among His tribes. Psalm 105:37 (NKJV) 

But is God’s mercy and power only for the sons and daughters of Jacob, the people of Israel. David gives the rest of us words of hope.

For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; Psalm 103:11 (NKJV)

A Syrian general was suffering from incurable leprosy. He had a captured Hebrew slave girl who told her about the prophet Elisha in Israel. When General Naaman found Elisha, the prophet sent him a message.

Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed." 2 Kings 5:10 (NIV) 

The general was angry but he reconsidered and did what he was told. When he came up out of the dirty river for the seventh time, he was healed. 

God wants to forgive all your sins and heal all your diseases but are you willing to honour God with your simple trust and humble obedience?

If you respect and trust God, if you revere and love Jesus, God’s promises are also for you.

But there are always some people who want to believe in a theology that limits God. God healed the Jews and some other people in the Old Testament but what about today?

Matthew 8:16-17 (ESV) 

• That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 
• This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.” 

When did Jesus take our illnesses and bear our diseases? On the cross. 

This is a quote from Isaiah 53, which is a prophecy of Jesus suffering on the cross for our salvation.

Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains--he hath carried them, And we--we have esteemed him plagued, Smitten of God, and afflicted. Isaiah 53:4 (YLT)

Here Young’s Literal Translation accurately translates Isaiah and agrees with the Greek translation in Matthew 8:17.

Jesus died to pay the price for your complete salvation, to take away your sin, guilt and condemnation and also to deliver you from the consequences of sin, which include sickness.