How To Pray For Endurance

Nick Minerva • Jan 04, 2021

In my last post , I wrote about the need for endurance. In this post, I want to look at a few elements of David’s prayer in the first eight verses of Psalm 31 that will show us how to pray for endurance. A cursory reading of this psalm might leave the reader feeling like it sounds pretty ordinary when compared to many of the other Psalms. But this Psalm has helped many Bible characters pray as they endured difficulty in a variety of different circumstances. Jonah’s prayer in the belly of the whale calls on this Psalm, Jeremiah quoted it more than once, and even Jesus quotes verse 5 from the cross. Right off the bat as David begins praying for protection he puts his trust in God. He says  Lord I seek refuge in You.  The best place to run for protection and refuge is in the Lord. 

Verbalize Your Trust in God 

In the first three verses, David calls God his refuge, his rock, and his mountain fortress. These images are ones of strength and force all conveying the sense of the Lord as a source of security and protection. Fortresses were places of protection from an enemy. Rocks also symbolize stability. David grounded his prayer on the fact that the Lord was his rock and his fortress, and because God was his rock of refuge, he could trust in him. As he entrusts his spirit into God’s hands, he acknowledges God’s good control over his life. Relinquishing control may be hard to do, but it’s always the best thing to do. As you pray, verbalizing your trust in God and why you trust in him will enable you to endure. 

Verbalizing your trust in God will enable you to endure. 

Remind Yourself of the Character of God

David is basing this prayer on the character of God. At the end of verse one he cries out “ Save me by your righteousness ” knowing his own righteousness wasn’t enough. When we pray, God wants us to pray in accordance to and relying on His nature and character. In verse three he promises to lead us and guide us. Verse eight tells us we are safe in his hands. Nothing will happen to us that will cause harm to his name. So if something difficult is happening in our lives we can trust that it is ultimately for his glory, which is our ultimate good. Spirit-led endurance is not about us mustering up the character to grit through it, it’s about relying on the character of God to get us through it. As you pray, remind yourself of who you are praying to. 

If something difficult is happening in our lives, we can trust that it’s ultimately for his glory, which is our ultimate good.

Rest in the Love of God

In verse 6 David is so close to God that He loves what God loves and hates what God hates. And then he begins rejoicing and praising God before he even experiences physical deliverance. In verse 7 he says “ I will rejoice. ” He is making the decision to rejoice in the Lord because he knew that God loved him, God was faithful to him, God had been merciful to him, and God saw him. (vs. 7-8) Even with all that was going on in David’s life, even with his enemies scheming his downfall; David could rest because He knew He was loved by God. 

Even on your bad days, God sees you. Even when it feels like you cannot be faithful, God is faithful in loving you and He knows what you are going through. You are not alone. God has set your feet in a spacious place. 

The dragon of sin is nothing but a crushed worm under the foot of our Savior and King.

We can endure because God endures. When we want to throw in the towel, we can pick up the sword of the Spirit and the shield of faith and continue to fight. We fight not because the battle needs to be won. It has already been won. The dragon of sin is nothing but a crushed worm under the foot of our Savior and King. We fight because we want to have a part in Christ’s victory. So we can pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all  perseverance  and intercession for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:18)

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A Creed To Remind The Gathered Church Of Its New Life In Christ

By Nick Minerva • 14 Jul, 2023
When I was pastoring I wanted to read a blessing over the church that would remind all of us of our new life in Christ. So I wrote this new life creed and every week I would read it and remind us of what Christ had done for us. We gather together as believers professing our great need We acknowledge that we have fallen short We confess that we are rebels who have gone our own way Apart from Christ, we stand condemned, guilty, and unable to save ourselves But what we are incapable of doing, God did In his infinite love, God made a way of salvation for all who would believe Jesus willingly laid down his life and received the just punishment we deserve So that could walk in new life So yes, we confess our great need We humbly recognize that apart from Christ we are incapable of any good thing But we also proclaim that because of the finished work of the cross we will never be apart from Christ We are forever secure in the love of the Father We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit All because of the sacrifice of the Son, Jesus Christ. We are no longer in bondage to sin We are no longer facing righteous wrath We have been declared holy by our King And nothing on heaven or earth will change that reality This gathering is a testimony to our redeemed state We pursue holy living to be an authentic demonstration of the love we have for Christ We believe that we have been empowered by grace to meet our every need And we gladly anticipate the complete fulfillment of our adaption and the remaking of this world at the coming of our Lord To Christ be glory forever and ever Amen

A Praying Church: A Book Review

By Nick Minerva • 23 May, 2023
Prayer is one of those topics that always seems to convict me. I have never heard a sermon or read a book on prayer and not been challenged. Even as I am writing this review there is a bit of imposter syndrome because I know I should pray more. In A Praying Church , Paul Miller writes about how to become a people of hope in a discouraging world through prayer. And he does so in a way that was very authentic and accessible. While I was consistently challenged, I was also consistently encouraged. Throughout the book, he takes you on his journey of developing a personal prayer life plus countless stories of ministries that developed communal prayer as a vital component of their life together. One thing that struck home with me throughout these stories was the reality that prayer always grows out of desperation for God. There were several things that I found very helpful in this book. One of them was the connection between a life yielded to the Holy Spirit and a vibrant prayer life. The power to do anything of eternal importance comes from the Holy Spirit and the Spirit moves in response to prayer. Paul shows us a biblical pattern we see throughout the New Testament. Prayer-Spirit-Jesus-power. However, this is not a simple formula to get God to do what you want. Another thing I appreciated about this book is Paul tells us time and again that the Spirit often moves in ways we don’t expect and that almost always includes difficulties. The Spirit enables us to look more like Jesus and that means joining him in the fellowship of his suffering. So this is not a “how to turn God into your personal genie” scheme, like many books on prayer. God often answers in ways we don’t expect and in places we don’t anticipate. This book is also full of practical help. I’ve already mentioned the stories he tells, but Paul also offers several helpful charts, strategies, and ideas to help put into place what he writes about (and lives by.) At the end of each chapter, he has a section called “A Word To Pastors” with a few paragraphs of wisdom to help them become a person of prayer and then lead their congregation to become a church of prayer. This book also made me thankful that I am a part of a church that has sought to grow in corporate prayer over the last few years. This would be a great book for any ministry leader who is burdened with the prayer life of his or her church. But it’s also a great read for any believer seeking to develop their own prayer life. Crossway was kind to send me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. You can get a copy of it at the affiliate link below.

Non-Toxic Masculinity: A Book Review

By Nick Minerva • 28 Apr, 2023
Let me start this review by saying everyone should read this book. If you've grown up in Evangelicalism, you‘ve no doubt heard of purity culture. For the last several years we have seen the harm that has come as a result of this sub-group of Christianity. In Non-Toxic Masculinity, Zachary Wagner does an excellent job unpacking its teaching and the damage that has come as a result. He explains so well the angst I've been feeling with the movement and how often the Church falls short and winds up doing more damage. But unlike many critiques, this one also points a way forward. We know what toxic male sexuality looks like. We see it in the news and unfortunately, in the Church. But what does healthy male sexuality look like? What does it look like for me? What will it look like for my boys? In my heart, I know what I want it to look like, but so often I struggle to find the right words to express it. Non-Toxic Masculinity paints a healthy picture that is (re)humanizing and ultimately looks like Jesus, who, like all of us, had a sexual body. Zach is also very transparent in this book and God used his transparency to encourage, challenge, and convict me. As you read his story you will no doubt find yourself resonating with him on some level. Every man should read this book for themselves first and foremost. But if you have sons, nephews, grandsons, or young boys in your life, reading it is a must. Non-Toxic Masculinity is a breath of fresh air that will prove to be a tremendous resource for generations. Thank you Zach for writing it and sharing your story to serve us.
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