For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. 2 Corinthians 4:17 (NKJV) The Apostle Paul was a man who was thoroughly convinced of the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, he kept sharing it despite being faced with opposition of almost every kind imaginable. Individuals and even whole communities came against Paul. He was beaten with rods, hung upside down with the soles of his feet whipped, shipwrecked (more than once!), attacked by animals, imprisoned, and even stoned and left for dead! But there was a tenacious spirit in Paul that would not stop. Despite heavy and continuous hardship, Paul carried on relentlessly, and because of that, …

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) One day my son told me he was thinking of getting a tattoo that said “Fearless.” While I understand what he was getting at and admire the thought behind it, “fearless” wasn’t the right word he was looking for. We’d all love to be fearless, but it’s simply impossible. You see, great champions aren’t fearless—they just do what they need to do despite the fear. The word “courageous” better describes what my son was trying to say. Courage is not the absence of fear; it’s the decision to stand up in spite of how you feel. It isn’t something you either have, or don’t. Courage is about choosing to carry on even …

For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world—our faith. 1 John 5:4 (NKJV) When we’re in the middle of a struggle, it can be tempting to want to give up or give in. In times like these, we need to fight, but I’m not talking about fighting people, poverty, sickness or even the devil. The fight I’m talking about is the fight to stay in faith. We need to hang on to faith when times get tough because it’s what we believe in our hearts—our faith—that will take us through. The devil is always trying to get believers out of faith. He wants to get you to give up, bow to or accept whatever you’re …

Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe…They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:4 (NLT) We all want to pray with confidence and get results. This is why we’ve been on a series over the past few days discussing the different types of prayer. We’ve discussed seven types so far. Today we’ll cover the eighth and final type: intercessory prayer. Very simply, intercessory prayer is what happens when you pray for others, intervening on their behalf. Unfortunately, a lot of confusion surrounds intercessory prayer. Some think you have to beg God before He’ll get involved in someone’s life, but it’s not true. He doesn’t need convincing. In fact, He wants …

[They] lifted their voices together with one united mind to God. Acts 4:24 (AMP) Over the past few days, we’ve been learning about different types of prayer so we can become more effective when we pray. Today let’s talk about united prayer. United prayer is very similar to the prayer of agreement; however, it involves a larger number of people agreeing in prayer. Acts 4:23–31 gives a great example of this type of prayer. After being released from prison, Peter and John and a group of other believers joined together to pray. When they finished praying, the building they were in began to shake. They were all filled with the Spirit and were empowered to speak boldly about Jesus. Great power is made available when …