re: Power of Prayer >No Matter Which Faith YouFollow=GOD is With You
Through the Valley
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
—Psalm 23:4
Have you ever gone through a spiritual valley in your life? Perhaps it was a time when unexpected circumstances suddenly came crashing down on you. Perhaps it was a time when it seemed as though even God himself had abandoned you.
In Psalm 23, David speaks of how God is with us, even when we go through valleys in our lives: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (verse 4 NKJV).
David was no stranger to calamity and hardship. This was a man who knew what it was like to suffer. He knew what it was like to face difficulties. He had been hunted like a wild animal by the paranoid King Saul, even after being anointed as the next king of Israel by the prophet Samuel.
When David brings us this and other psalms, which he penned under the direction of the Holy Spirit, he candidly speaks of his own shortcomings, weaknesses, and questions he faced in life. Psalm 23 came from the school of hard knocks, from a man who knew what it was like to need God’s help.
But we might say, “A valley? I don’t like valleys, Lord. I prefer mountaintops, okay? I like the sun to be shining and the birds singing. I like good times. I don’t want friction. I don’t want hardship.”
Yet the Lord is saying, “You see that mountaintop in the distance? The way to that mountaintop is through this valley. You come with Me now through the valley.”
We all go through those valleys in life, those hard times. Whatever valley it is, remember this: You are not alone. That is God’s great promise to the believer.
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I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4
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