The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Psalm 37:23 (NLT)  When my wife and I first started leading our church, it exploded in growth. Attendance doubled almost every year for several years.  It was awesome, but at the same time, it put a lot of pressure on us. We had to figure out finances and locate larger buildings to rent. We needed to recruit volunteers, design kids’ programs and organize parking.  Whenever people face difficult problems where the solutions are complicated, or there aren’t any easy fixes, they can quickly grow mentally or emotionally exhausted. That’s when many people will begin to make wrong decisions, back away or give up altogether.  Whenever I face complex challenges, …

After looking things over I stood up and spoke to the nobles, officials, and everyone else: “Don’t be afraid of them. Put your minds on the Master, great and awesome, and then fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” Nehemiah 4:14 (MSG) When people feel like their dreams are delayed or they’re making limited progress, they can grow weary. That can tempt them to give up. However, in the book of Nehemiah, we find a great principle to defeat this mindset.  Nehemiah had organized the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem. As the people worked, neighbouring enemy nations tried to discourage them through fear-mongering and threats. But Nehemiah was wise and powerfully countered their efforts. How?  He would remind the Jews …

They were trying to intimidate us into quitting. They thought, “They’ll give up; they’ll never finish it.” I prayed, “Give me strength.” Nehemiah 6:9 (MSG)  When people come against you, it can cause you to become weary. Today, there are a lot of people who will ridicule, intimidate and lie about others to serve their own vindictive agenda. This is nothing new—evil opponents did the same thing to Nehemiah in his day, too. As he organized the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls, people from surrounding nations openly mocked him, plotted ways to discredit him and even conspired to assassinate him and destroy the builders’ work.  But Nehemiah didn’t give up or lose heart. Instead of letting their words or plans get the best of him, he …

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. Luke 18:1 (ESV)  Have you ever hit a wall of emotional or mental exhaustion and wondered how you got there?  What we call exhaustion, the Bible calls weariness. It’s more than physical tiredness—it’s internal exhaustion that can cause people to drag through life or give up altogether.  People can become weary after completing a massive task requiring huge effort. After finishing something they’ve worked on long and hard, their drive and vision may fade. They tend to release negative thoughts or words that they hadn’t allowed until then, and that opens the door for weariness to enter. That’s why whenever one of our teams wraps up …

The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]. James 5:16 (AMPC)  Is there someone you know who is burning out mentally or emotionally? Maybe it’s a cousin who is struggling financially and searching desperately for a job, a friend walking out a prolonged illness or a co-worker going through a bitter divorce. You can see mental or emotional exhaustion taking its toll on them. As a believer, what is one way to help? You can lift them up in prayer.   When I pray for people, I know that I can’t come against their free will. I’m aware that I can’t make them give their lives to Christ or get them to stop sinning. I’m mindful of …