How Can Good Come from Something So Bad?

When we experience tragedy and loss, it seems impossible that anything good can come out of it. It may be hard to imagine ever feeling true happiness again. And even though God promises that "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purposes" (Romans 8:28), in disastrous situations we may wonder how in the world God can actually do that for us. The truth is He can, no matter how bad our situation. How He does it, only He knows. But it doesn't happen automatically. There are conditions that have to be met.

Most importantly of all, we must love God. If we don't love God, or if we're mad at Him and have an angry, resentful, bitter, unforgiving, or hateful attitude, then this promise will not be fulfilled in our life. God knows what is in our hearts, so we can't hide it from Him. He works all things together for good to those who love Him, and He knows if we really love Him or not.

Loving God doesn't mean we just pray when we want something, as if God were a spiritual Santa Claus, a Sugar Daddy, or our fairy Godfather. Of course He wants us to ask for things in accordance with His will. In fact, He says we don't have certain blessings because we don't ask for them. But He wants us to love Him enough to not just tell Him what we want without asking what He wants. In other words, we can't just ignore His laws or reject His ways and then run to Him demanding that He protect us and give us everything we long for. The Bible does not say that all things work together for good to those who deny God's existence until disaster strikes and then run to Him and demand that He fix everything that's wrong. That is not loving God.

Loving God is a way of life that does not depend on circumstances. It depends on our knowledge of who God is. When we know who He is, we can't help but love Him. It means trusting Him with all our heart and walking with Him through each day, no matter how difficult it may be. It means always knowing that God is on our side, whether it feels like it at the moment or not. It means praying with the leading of the Holy Spirit and refusing to give in to fear and doubt.

PRAYER POWER 

Lord, I draw close to You and proclaim You to be Lord and King over all heaven and earth. I thank You that Your goodness, mercy, and righteousness endure forever (1 Chronicles 16:34). I praise You according to Your righteousness, and I sing praises to Your name, O Lord most high (Psalm 7:17). Your name is excellent over all the earth (Psalm 8:1). I praise You for Your mighty acts according to Your excellent greatness (Psalm 150:2). I worship You and I love You, Lord.

May my prayers be set before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice (Psalm 141:2). I give glory to Your name. To You, O Lord, I lift my soul, and the soul of my nation. Let us not be put to shame. Do not permit our enemies to triumph over us (Psalm 25:1-2).

Lord, as the body of Christ we are weary of watching the enemy, whom You defeated on the cross, run roughshod over people and destroy their lives. We are disgusted by our own compromised prayers. We confess that we haven't been willing to lay down enough of our lives to see them break through the darkness with power. Renew us and revive us, Lord. Fill us afresh with Your Holy Spirit. Break down the strongholds in our lives that stand in opposition to You and Your ways. Help us to be doers of the Word and not just hearers only. Work a profound spiritual awakening in Your people all over this land.

Lord, you have said that You are "able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us" (Ephesians 3:20). I know that means You can do more than we ever dreamed. I invite You to do that in me, in Your people, and in our country. Ignite a fire in our hearts that illuminates for us the possibilities of what can happen when we pray. Move the hearts in this nation into alignment with Your will.

I ask for Your grace to be poured out upon our nation. Only You can bring good out of the evil and destruction that has been manifested here. Show me how I may be of service to You in that regard. Help me not to shrink back when you call me into the storm. Shine Your light into our darkness and evaporate it. Help those of us who believe to extend Your light to others. Thank You, Lord, that You have put gladness in our hearts once again (Psalm 4:7) and are even now making all things work together for good in our nation.

~Bits and Pieces of THE POWER OF A PRAYING NATION