Keep on Praying

Work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. – Romans 12:11-12

Are you excited about your recovery? Here Paul tells us to serve the Lord enthusiastically—or, as a footnote to the New Living Translation suggests, to “let the Spirit excite” us as we live for him. There is something exciting about taking our lives back. There’s a sense of wholeness that we’ve longed for and an anticipation of what God is going to do next. There is a growing sense of hope that life can be different.

But sometimes our forward movement feels so slow. And there can also be setbacks, where it feels like we’ve moved forward a bit, only to reverse direction.

When that happens—and it will—Romans 12 tells us to do three things. First, we are to remind ourselves to rejoice in what we have been working toward and hoping for. Second, when trouble comes, we are to be patient—there’s that word again—and not throw in the towel. And third, we must keep on praying. God never tires of our prayers, even when in our frustration we repeat ourselves. He loves to hear from us, so we need to keep on talking to him.

Ask Yourself
Are you excited about your process of healing and recovery? If not, why not? If so, why?

Describe your strategy for what to do when you get discouraged with the healing process.

Ask God
Patient Father in heaven, help me be more patient, especially with myself. And Holy Spirit, I ask you to excite me about the process of my recovery. Help me experience that confident hope.