Praying in Sleepless Weakness

ByDr. Dan

It was one of those Saturday nights. The events of the week had created a scenario wherein my body was too tired and weak to sleep. Nor was my mind in very good shape either. I tossed and I turned but I did not sleep. To make matters worse, I had to preach twice the next morning. I kept praying to God that I really needed to sleep so I could be at my best on Sunday morning – for God’s glory of course. Still no sleep. My prayer slowly evolved to a request to be clear and focused in spite of the lack of sleep. I reminded God that I would be delivering sermons in sleepless weakness. I may have slept a couple of hours, but I eventually got up, got dressed, drove to church and preached twice – with clarity and focus. During the invitation, people came to the front to pray. More than the normal number of folks made positive comments on the sermon. So what happened between my late night/early morning sleepless prayer and the delivery of the sermons? Oh, that’s the good part of the story. As I often do, I awoke that Sunday morning with a song on my mind. That morning it was the old hymn, “Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land; I am weak, but thou art mighty; hold me with thy powerful hand.” Almost immediately, the verse came to mind from 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Then I went to my computer where a new Scripture verse greets me each morning. The verse for that day was from 1 Samuel 30:6, “David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” Need I say more?

Join with me in remembering the following global concerns this week:
• Pray for new ministry opportunities that are developing in Nicosia, Cyprus.
• Pray for Lance and Carrie as they lead a team of missionaries in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
• Pray for a team of missionaries meeting in Macau on January 24-27.
• Join Canadians on January 29 at 4:00 PM (EDT) to pray for the Military Christian Fellowship of Canada.
• Pray for those who minister to flood victims in Australia, Brazil, and Sri Lanka,