Devotions

We read in the book of Isaiah, “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall” (Isaiah 40:29-30). In other words, there comes a season in each of our lives when we feel we cannot go on. We feel as if we are going to crash and burn, spiritually speaking. Similarly, we all face seasons when coldness gets into our heart — perhaps because of the monotony of daily life.

Marriages often get into trouble because there is no effort on the part of either spouse to rekindle the flame of love. Likewise, coldness can seep into our relationship with God — particularly when we become so accustomed to the pattern of our Christian walk that we begin to do things on autopilot. Soon the weight of repetition and personal trials start to crash in upon us, and before we know it, we feel like we are going to lose lift, just as an airplane does when it loses speed.

It is imperative that we recognize God has already told us what to do when this happens. Just as a pilot is trained in certain procedures so that he will respond properly, so we must heed God’s instructions and trust what He says rather than relying on our own instincts.

The Bible tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). 

God has told us in Jeremiah 29:11: “I know the thoughts that I think toward you … thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” He will bring you to that place of freedom that you long for, give you the strength you need, place a renewed vision within you. So trust the Lord and acknowledge Him in all your ways, and then watch where He will lead you!

Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 at the invitation of the founding pastor, David Wilkerson, and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001.

As Jesus spent his last hours with his disciples, he said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you” (John 16:23). Then he told them further, “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (16:24).

What an incredible statement! As this scene took place, Christ was warning his followers that he was going away and he wouldn’t see them for a time. Yet, in the very same breath, he assured them they had access to every blessing of heaven. All they had to do was ask in his name.

Considering all the power and resources we have in Christ, most believers have asked almost nothing in his name. Christ’s words to his disciples convict me: “Until now you have asked nothing in My name.” Here is what I believe grieves God’s heart more than all the sins of the flesh combined. Our Lord is grieved by the ever-growing lack of faith in his promises — by the ever-increasing doubts that he answers prayer and by a people who claim less and less of the power that is in Christ.

The world has never known a needier time. Yet there is less petitioning than ever in the name of Jesus, and as the days pass, Christians are asking less and less of the Lord. They are afraid to step out, often because of unbelief.

It is amazing how faithfully the Church refers to Christ’s name. We praise it, bless it, we sing about the “wonder-working power in the blessed name of the Lord.” But we don’t appropriate the power that is in his name.

Beloved, we are to take our position in Christ and get hold of God’s Word. His promises are the weapons of our warfare and they will become mighty in our hands when we lay hold of them.

“Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest’” (Hebrews 3:8-11).

What reason is given for why God’s people were not able to enter his rest? Was it because of adultery, covetousness, drunkenness? No, it was because of unbelief alone. Here was a nation exposed to forty years of miracles, supernatural wonders that God worked on their behalf. In fact, no other people on earth had been so loved, so tenderly cared for.

They received revelation after revelation about the goodness of the Lord. They heard a fresh word preached regularly from Moses, their prophet leader, and yet, they never mixed that word with faith. Therefore, hearing it did them no good. In the midst of all those blessings, they still did not trust God to be faithful, and over time, unbelief set in.

Beloved, unbelief is the root cause behind all hardness of heart. The Scripture goes on, “Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness?” (Hebrews 3:17). The people’s unbelief kindled God’s anger against them; moreover, it hardened them into a continual spiral of unbelief: “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God … lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (3:12-13). 

Unbelief is also the root of all bitterness, rebellion and coldness. That is why Hebrews 3 is addressed to believers. You can be saved, Spirit-filled, and walking holy before God and still be guilty of unbelief. It is so important that we accept his supernatural power by faith and say with confidence, “Do it again, Lord. And let your strength be made perfect in my weakness.” 

Do you know Christians who always complain about how inadequate they feel? They constantly belittle themselves and compare themselves to those they admire, thinking, “I’m nothing like him. It’s hopeless for me.”

You may remember the Old Testament story of the Israelite spies sent to scout out the Promised Land. They came back saying, “Yes, it’s a land flowing with milk and honey, but it’s also full of giants and walled-up cities. We’re not able to go up against these people. Compared to them, we are mere grasshoppers” (see Numbers 13).

Now, these men didn’t accuse God. They never said, “God isn’t able. He isn’t strong enough.” They dared not voice such unbelief but, instead, they focused on themselves, saying, “We’re like little bugs in the sight of our enemies.”

That is not humility and it isn’t innocent, harmless talk. Rather, it is an affront to the One who is the light of the world. This light commands us to believe, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

You see, when you complain of your inabilities and weaknesses, you’re not putting yourself down, you’re putting down your Lord. How? Because you’re refusing to believe or walk in his Word. The Israelite spies were so focused on their inabilities they were ready to quit but what was God’s response to their fears and unbelief? “The Lord said to Moses: ‘How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them?’” (Numbers 14:11). God charged them with one sin: unbelief. 

Today the Lord is asking his people the same question he asked Israel: “When will you believe what I promised you? I said my strength would come to you in your times of weakness. You are not to rely on the strength of your flesh. I am Jehovah, everlasting strength, and I will make you strong through my might.”

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

The Bible tells us very clearly that in these last days, the Church of Jesus Christ faces the wrath of an enraged devil. Satan knows his time is short and he is bent on devouring God’s people (see Revelation 12:12). Where does the devil direct his wrath? He is taking aim at families all over the world and his goal is simple: bring ruin and destruction to every home he possibly can.

Jesus referred to this demonic work when he described Satan, saying, “He was a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44). Indeed, we see the enemy’s destructive plan against the very first family — it was the devil who entered Cain and convinced him to kill his brother Abel.

There comes a time when certain life situations are beyond human hope and someone has to get to Jesus! In the gospel of John, we find such a family in crisis: “There was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum” (John 4:46). This was a family of distinction, perhaps even royalty, yet a spirit of death hung over the home. But someone in that troubled family knew who Jesus was and had heard of his miraculous power. In desperation, the father took it upon himself to get to the Lord and Scripture tells us, “When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him” (4:47).

This nobleman was determined and when he got through to Jesus, he “implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death” (4:47). What a marvelous picture of intercession; this man set aside everything to seek the Lord. And then Christ spoke a word to him, which the man believed (see John 4:50), and he received his miracle!

Fervent, aggressive prayer combats Satan’s destructive aims to ruin your family. Pray in faith, believing that you will receive a miracle.