Tired of Fighting the Battles of Life

(1 Thessalonians 5:17)
Tired of fighting the battles of life and having someone like me tell you to "just have faith," or, "trust the
Lord," or, "God will guide you." What do you do when you don't have any more faith, when you can't trust
the Lord, when God is not guiding you? How do you really fight thru the battles of life? It is easy to sit back
when everything is calm, relatively quiet, going as smooth as life can ever go, and tell someone who is in
the heat of the battle to "trust God," or to "have more faith." When the attacks are coming relentlessly,
when you are fighting one battle and at the same time a new one starts, and in the midst of dealing with
that one, another one starts, and all of a sudden you find yourself consumed, what do you do?
As I write this Devotional today, I am literally in my foxhole taking a quick break from the battles, having
had only about 2 hours sleep in the last 2 days. Over these last 8 years, I have learned how to fight the
daily battles associated with being on the front lines of the Lord's work, while finding those pockets of
"down time" each day, find a little time each day to keep my physical body in the best shape I can, get my
4 hours of sleep each night, have a meaningful relationship with my wife, and accomplish all that I need to
for the Lord for that day. Of course there are times when the attacks come and the daily routine has to be
forfeited in order to fight. It has been several years since the attacks have come with such intensity, in
endless waves, and from many different directions at the same time.
Today, I want to help you how to fight when you are in the heat of battle, when the enemy is attacking you
from all sides, when there is no time to even think, when you are weary from fighting, when you have
thoughts of giving up, when you start to feel defeated, when you start to feel your strength ebbing away
and you begin to lose hope, when simply gaining an inch is a victory. How do you fight when satan is
coming after you with the sole intent of taking you out? I know today many of you are dealing with nonstop attacks from many directions. How do you not only fight..but win???
Here is the most important things to never forget, it is the key, PRAY! The boxer Mike Tyson actually said
one thing in his life that was very profound. Tyson said you can train for a fight, prepare, study film, put
together a great strategy, and do all you can to get ready. However, all the planning and strategy is gone
the second you get hit in the mouth. I'm not saying we shouldn't be prepared for the attacks of satan, or
spiritually train, or plan how we will fight. What I am saying is that the moment you get hit, it is no longer a
hypothetical, it is really happening. How are you going to respond when satan hits you in the mouth?
Obviously, of the 40,000 or so people who contact Liveprayer every day for prayer, the vast majority are in
the midst of great battles in their life. The biggest mistake I see people make, the biggest mistake I
sometimes make, is forgetting to pray. Once the battle begins we start fighting. That is our survival
instincts kicking in. That is why when you start to fight multiple battles on many different fronts, you get
overwhelmed, fatigued, frustrated, and eventually despair sets in, hopelessness sets in, and soon you
begin to think about where to run and hide.
I can't stress enough that your first response MUST BE PRAYER! John 15:5, "without me you can do
nothing!" When we are weak, He is strong. God will fight for us. God will give us wisdom. There is victory in
Jesus. These are all great truths but we need to first call on that name above all names and ask Him to
help us. We need to ask Him to make us strong! We need to ask Him to fight for us! We need to ask Him for
wisdom! We need to declare that there is victory in Jesus! If you don't pray you are already defeated. You
can't do it on your own, nor do you have to. This is the time to make your faith real. You say you trust God,
that your faith is in Jesus, now is the time to prove it. PRAY LIKE YOU TRUST GOD AND BELIEVE IN JESUS!!!
Will praying make the attacks stop, make the devil go away? Nope. It will probably make him come after
you even harder. What it does do is gives you renewed strength and energy. It also helps to clear your
mind. How you look at a situation is critical. You can either look at a situation as hopeless or simply a
hurdle that needs to be overcome. The power of prayer is that it gives you the increased faith, the
confidence, the ability to look at the attacks you are under not as hopeless but as hurdles.

The Bible says that if we ask God for wisdom, He will give it to us liberally. That means A LOT! One of the
byproducts of not praying while in the battle is that you are trying to figure out how to fight, how to win, in
your own mind. You need to put on the mind of Christ, not the mind of man! I can guarantee you that
whatever plan God gives you will be better and more effective than anything you come up with. Knowing
that, why do we fight and fight and fight until we are thoroughly frustrated because of the poor decisions
we make as the battle is raging on. ASK GOD FOR WISDOM AND HE WILL GIVE IT TO YOU LIBERALLY! When
is a good time for wisdom? Well, all the time, but especially when you are fighting the enemy on many
different fronts and start to lose sight of what battles you are even fighting. Pray for wisdom and God will
give it to you!
I love you and care about you so much. We all fight battles throughout the course of our journey through
this life. We all have those wonderful seasons of peace. We also have those intense times when the attacks
come from all sides at once. Those are the times when the faith we claim to have must sustain us and
guide us to victory. As the battles begin to intensify, stop and crawl into your foxhole for a moment and
pray, seek the Lord. Ask Him to give you strength, and courage, and wisdom. Ask Him to be your shield
and buckler, your strong tower. Ask Him to fight for you. ASK HIM FOR VICTORY OVER YOUR ENEMIES!!!
The wonderful thing is God has already given us all that we need to fight with. In Ephesians 6 we read
these great words, "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's
schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your
ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled
around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the
readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which
you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and
requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."
You will notice there is one thing missing in God's armor. There is nothing for the back. GOD'S ARMY
FIGHTS GOING FORWARD! GOD'S ARMY DOES NOT RETREAT! Cowards run, men and women of God stand
and fight to victory!!!
I will be praying for you today. For those of you who are in the midst of the battle, facing great attacks on
all sides, be of good cheer and know that the Lord is with you. Call on the Lord of hosts to stand and fight
for you. Pray without ceasing. If you never prayed much before, now is the time to learn how to pray, and
not stop praying!!! I will be praying for the Lord to give you His strength, His wisdom, and His victory over
your enemies today. When the dust settles know that you will be standing as a living testimony of your
faith in Jesus Christ!!
2 Samuel 11:1-5
We all face key moments of decision, when our actions can lead to lasting consequences. The issue is, will
you be ready when such a time comes?
David wasnt prepared for the moment of decision that suddenly faced him. At a time when he was
restless, lonely, and preoccupied with worries, temptation and sin caught him unprepared. We can guard
ourselves against these moments of weakness by remembering one simple word: H-A-L-T.
First, never allow yourself to get too hungry. When the body is weak from lack of food, poor decisions are
likely to follow. Respect your body and provide the sustenance it needs.
Second, dont permit yourself to get too angry. Anger can cloud judgment and lead to regrettable
decisions.

A third caution is not to let yourself become too lonely. When you feel isolated, you may find yourself
willing to do almost anything to feel accepted or loved.
Fourth, dont allow yourself to get too tired. Sleep is essential for wise decisions. When you deprive your
mind and body of its necessary down time, poor choices become probable.
Being wise in these four areas can prevent thoughts of If only I hadnt . . . later on.
Commit now never to make important decisions when you are too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. Instead,
be honest at those times and admit youre unprepared to make sound judgments. Then delay the decision
until you can approach it with prayer, patience, and godly wisdom.

GOD HAS NOT FORGOTTEN YOU

Phi 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in
you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Have you ever felt forgotten by God? I know I've felt that way. Does God seem to be blessing everyone
except you? Do your expectations of God seem to meet with cold indifference from Him? Do you find
yourself asking "What is God doing?" and "What's going on here?" If your answer is "yes," then rejoice,
because you are at the edge of a miracle! You are on the verge of a breakthrough! Don't give up now your
door is about to swing open!
Any woman knows the most difficult time of any birth is the few moments right before you deliver your
baby into the world. Youre tired and exhausted beyond what you can endure. The last thing you want to
hear again is PUSH! You cant take it anymore! You have pushed and pushed and have exhausted all your
strength! You dont have another push in of you! You want to scream, and you do: "I can't do this . . . I
can't!" BUT you must! You know you cant keep that child inside of you! It is at this moment that you must
push the hardest and exert yourself the most. You are crying, "I can't," and everyone around you is yelling,
"PUSH!" Easy for them to say, they are not the one lying there going through all that pain! Yet, you know
they are right, you have to PUSH!
Then, somewhere deep inside you, the strength arises! You now have determination where hopelessness
used to dwell. Now you cry from the depths of your heart, "I can," and "I will!" You push! Youre at that
same place now - on the verge of a breakthrough. Perhaps you are tired of believing, tired of hearing
another prophecy, but you can't give up now. That's what the enemy wants you to do. Only you can break
through to your miracle! Only you can give birth to your dream! Only you can fight through to your
dream's fulfillment, no one else. God will give you His strength when you have none of your own. When
you fall short, He will pick you up because, "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the
weak" (Isaiah 40:29).
YOU ARE A HIDDEN MIRACLE
I have felt this way and I know some of you have too. I have felt like God had forgotten me. I wondered if
the promise would ever be fulfilled - if God would ever open the door. I had been teetering on the edge of a
breakthrough for so long that I allowed doubt to creep in. I began to say, "Would it ever really happen?"
"Maybe God has changed His mind?" Maybe what I dreamed wasnt from the Lord. I was tired of waiting,
of praying, of hoping in faith! I felt like a butterfly in a cocoon, hidden and forgotten. Have you been
there?
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called
according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).
He has you hidden for a purpose; you are His secret Weapon! Dont give up now!
PAIN GIVES BIRTH TO LIFE

God will sometimes take us through painful, ugly" situations only to turn us into something
beautiful. Something that will glorify His Name. Look at the painful death of our Saviour. Had He not gone
through, had He not endured, where would we be? How could His Father have been glorified? How could
we have ever known how much the Father loves us?
The situation that you are in right now is the "death" that will give birth to your dream. The pain that
youre enduring could be the launching pad for your future. Dont allow the enemy to cause you to give up
on your dreams. If you feel as though you are invisible, rejoice, because you are. God has hidden you away
to change you in secret, but soon He will pull you out like a secret weapon and show you off to the world.
THIS COULD BE THE DAY
Each day that you wake up, and give God the glory, and wait on His timing for your destiny's fulfillment is
one day closer to its birth. You dont want to quit now. As you come closer to your time of delivery, you
begin to feel in your spirit that the time is near. Perhaps today will be the day! You begin to look around
you and see your brothers and sisters receive the promises of God in their lives - you are happy for them.
You say to yourself Lord when is it going to be my turn? When will my destiny come forth like God
promised it would? Each day we must prepare our hearts to believe that, "this could be the day He fulfills
His promises to me". Each day we must EXPECT A MIRACLE. Each day we must be ready to receive, and
then suddenly He does.
The longer you worship and praise the Lord, the deeper you will trust Him to bring His promises to pass in
your life. As you come closer to the time of receiving the fulfillment of His call on your life, you can know
that each day will bring you one day closer. Today, yes this day could be the day you receive a great
blessing from God. Today could hold the answer you have been waiting for.
Wait in faith through each day expecting to receive your promise as a woman waiting to give birth. God
does not bring you to the time of birth just to stop the whole process. In other words, He didnt bring you
this far to leave you now. He has not forgotten you. He will not forget you! It will happen! You must always
remember, He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it" (Philippians 1:6).
"God is not a man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and
then not act?" (Numbers 23:19).
If He's promised it, He will do it!
Say this with me: God always keeps His promises. God will do what He has promised. He has not forgotten
me, for I am constantly in His thoughts. I must not give up on God, for He is waiting to fulfill His Word
through me. I know it will happen! This could be the day! God cannot lie; He will not change His mind. I
choose to believe what God has spoken and not the lies of fear and doubt.
"I want you to Pray. Pray without ceasing. Do not give me up; I havent given up on you. Dont grow weary;
dont lose sight of the promises I have spoken to you. They will come to pass. Remember they are YES and
AMEN in Christ Jesus. Keep your eyes on Me. Do not allow the enemy to cause you to lose your focus and
start to dwell on the things of this world, on the circumstances of this time. This world will pass away, and
everything in it, but My Word will last forever. Focus on Me, Focus on My Word, and I will strengthen your
heart. Remember that this fight is not against flesh and blood, but against forces that rage in the
heavens. Fight the good fight of faith.
"I am neither a silent God, nor am I a deaf God that does not hear your prayers. I am working - even
where you cannot see, even in places you do not know; I am working ALL THINGS for the good. Pray. Pray
my child. Pray in power. Pray in strength. Pray with the authority that I have given you. I have called you by
name. Keep planting those seeds of prayer, dont grow weary, do not stop praying, and dont grow weak.
See, the seasons are turning. It may look one way now, but soon you will see it with spiritual eyes. Stay
alert...watching and praying! Soon you shall see what your prayers have accomplished."
So I say unto to each of you this day "Do not stop. Pray! Pray! Pray!" We must be like Jacob and dont let
go until we receive our blessing.

HE HAS NOT FORGOTTEN YOU

COUNT YOUR BLESSING, NOT YOUR PROBLEMS
A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, who
would like this $20 bill? Hands started going up. He said, I am going to give this $20 to one of you but
first, let me do this. He proceeded to crumple the $20 dollar bill up. He then asked, who still wants it?
Still the hands were up in the air.
Well, he replied, What if I do this. And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with
his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled, and dirty. Now who still wants it? Still the hands went into the air.
My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted
it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped,
crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.
We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never
lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who love you.
The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or whom we know, but by WHO WE ARE. You are special Don't EVER forget it.
Count your blessings, not your problems. Never be afraid to try something new

The most destructive habit..........................Worry

The greatest Joy.........................................Giving
The greatest loss.....................Loss of self-respect
The most satisfying work...................Helping others
The ugliest personality trait..................Selfishness
The most endangered species.....Dedicated leaders
Our greatest natural resource.................Our youth
The greatest "shot in the arm".......Encouragement
The greatest problem to overcome.................Fear
The most effective sleeping pill.........Peace of mind
The most crippling failure disease...............Excuses
The most powerful force in life.........................Love
The most dangerous pariah....................A gossiper
The world's most incredible computer. ....The brain
The worst thing to be without........................ Hope
The deadliest weapon............................The tongue
The two most power-filled words................"I Can"
The greatest asset.......................................Faith

The most worthless emotion......................Self-pity

The most beautiful attire................................SMILE!
The most prized possession...................... Integrity
The most powerful channel of communication.....Prayer
The most contagious spirit....................Enthusiasm
Dana, thanks so much for sharing

IT MAY BE DELAYED, BUT IT'S NOT DENIED

...Do not fear, from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your
God, your words were heard, and I have come because of your words. Daniel 10:12
We all have goals, dreams, and visions in life. We pray about them and try to hold fast to them, because
with faith in Jesus we know they will come to pass. And, when they do, it is the most wonderful feeling. A
dream becoming reality, a prayer answered, and our faith in God strengthened even more.
But there are times the enemy will cloud the vision that God gives us. He may not be able to read your
mind, but he can hear your words. He sees your actions (and reactions) and knows your "hot buttons". He
knows just what buttons to push, and when to push them to get your mind off the vision. He would like
nothing better than to steal our dreams. But he can't steal our dreams, unless we let him. This is why it's
so important for us to hold fast our confession of faith. It's so important be diligent in our faith. "Be sober,
be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may
devour" (1 Peter 5:8)
Disappointment can open a door for the enemy to slip in and "steal, kill and destroy" (John 10:10), our
hopes and dreams. There is a song entitled "When God is Silent", that I truly love. It talks about how when
God is silent He is giving us more time to pray. If you're praying and praying and praying for something
and it just hasn't arrived yet, keep praying! PUSH! Pray until something happens. Then pray some more.
There are times when we pray to God for an answer, and it seems that all hope is gone. There is no need
to spend time worrying, just fall down on your needs again and again. Jesus prayed the same prayer three
times in the Garden, the night before He gave His life for us (Matthew 26:44, Luke 22:41-44), and the Lord
sent the angels to minister unto Him to give Him the strength He needed to make it to the cross. If you
believe God is working all things out to your benefit, you have to believe His timing is part of that. He
wouldn't have given His only Son if He wasn't going to keep His promise to us.
I want to encourage you this day, not to be disappointed at what appears to be a lack of results in prayer.
We have no idea what the Lord is doing on our behalf to answer our prayers. We cannot see it, but rest
assured His is working it out. What He requires from us is faith to believe that the Word of God is true. Just
because you FEEL the answer isn't coming, do not let the enemy make you BELIEVE your prayer has been
denied. Keep your eyes focused on Jesus, and keep praying in faith, remembering to thank Him and praise
Him for all He has done. Remember: GOD IS FAITHFUL!

DON'T GIVE UP
2 Corinthians 4:8 "We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed and broken. We are
perplexed because we don't know why things happen as they do, but we don't give up and quit."

Every day is a new day. All things are being made new. The old is being eliminated from the lives of the
people, and a fresh breeze is blowing, bringing in the new.
I do not want you to be discouraged, and give up hope. You will be avenged and you will move into the
work I have prepared for you. I am going before you and hemming you in from behind. I am
encompassing you with My love. Nothing will be able to touch you, to shake you, to throw you off guard,
for I am doing a complete work within you. Every idol is being brought to the ground, and you will honor
Me with your whole being. So please don't give up.
I see the struggle within you. I see you are being torn, tossed upon the waves of the storm, but do not
lose hope. Do not give up. Do not believe the lies of the enemy. Do not bow down to the intimidator.
Instead cling to the promises I have given to you, that when the storms are over, you will get up onto your
feet and you shall be changed, made new, no longer divided in heart, and I will bring you into the fullness
of your calling.
You cant lose hope now; you have come to far to give up. Why do you think that I cannot over-ride the
present situation? I can, and I will. I will take what seems, once again, like an impossible situation and put
My stamp of approval upon it. Push through to heights unknown. Do not be content to live on the surface
of life, but press in to the fullness offered to you through My Son. Do not back down, but gear up and
move forward. Those who try to slow you down will not be successful. I shall take the reigns out of their
hands. No longer will they be a hindrance in your walk. I want you to set your sights on things above and
do not be thrown off guard by the so-called successes of men trying to deceive you.
The day is coming when the truth shall be revealed and each one will be assigned his portion in the land,
his inheritance, and the reward for what he has done. So be faithful in the call and I shall reward you with
blessings untold. Trust Me to provide for your every need. Trust Me to lift you up and out of despair and
into heavenly blessings.
So I say to you do not be discouraged. Do not give up hope, I havent forsaken you.