{"id":1581,"date":"2017-07-15T19:16:40","date_gmt":"2017-07-16T00:16:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/?p=1581"},"modified":"2017-07-15T20:41:13","modified_gmt":"2017-07-16T01:41:13","slug":"praying-for-patience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/07\/15\/praying-for-patience\/","title":{"rendered":"Praying for Patience"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever you do, don\u2019t pray for patience!\u201d<\/h4>\n

Have you ever heard someone say that? I know I have. It seems to be a common half-joking-but-more-serious warning, that Christians sometimes give each other. But why not pray for patience?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t patience one of the fruits of the Spirit? Isn\u2019t it a great asset in our relationships and our faith? Why shouldn\u2019t we pray for patience?\u00a0 Here\u2019s the reasoning:<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t pray for patience,\u201d people say, \u201cbecause if you do, God\u2019s going to send you a heap of trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

But is that really true? Does God punish you for asking Him for patience? Does praying for patience give God a cart blanche to \u201cJob-ify\u201d your life by bringing you hardship?<\/p>\n

No. Of course not.<\/p>\n

Troubles are a part of life\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

In fact, Jesus made it very clear that difficulties are a part of life, including (and sometimes especially) for believers.\u00a0 \u201cIn the world you shall have tribulation\u201d he said in John 16:33\u00a0<\/i> If we think living a life of following God is trouble-free, we haven\u2019t been reading our Bibles. Trials are a reality in each of our lives and they’re going to keep coming. Count on it.<\/p>\n

An Opportunity<\/b><\/h3>\n

As far as I can tell, \u201cpraying for patience<\/a> brings trouble\u201d logic is based in a misunderstanding of Romans 5:3-4<\/p>\n

“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience;\u00a0and patience, experience; and experience, hope.” \u00a0Romans 5:3-4 (AKJV)<\/i><\/p>\n

Notice that Paul doesn’t say, “Pray for patience and God will bring tribulations (troubles).” He says glory – or be thankful – in your trouble, seeing it as an opportunity for good – patience – to come from the hardships.<\/p>\n

Our Choice<\/b><\/h3>\n

Hard times are acomin\u2019, and they will keep on coming. We have no choice about that.\u00a0 But we do get to decide how we respond to adversity, and our choice will either make us bitter or better.<\/p>\n

When we decide to give thanks (glory) in the middle of every situation, we are reminded that our difficult circumstance is not for nothing. At the very least it will strengthen our ability to be patient, and endure it with grace.<\/p>\n

by Lydia Floren<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhatever you do, don\u2019t pray for patience!\u201d Have you ever heard someone say that? I know I have. It seems to be a common half-joking-but-more-serious warning, that Christians sometimes give each other. But why not pray for patience?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t patience one of the fruits of the Spirit? Isn\u2019t it a great asset in our relationships […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[37],"class_list":["post-1581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-patience"],"yoast_head":"\nPraying for Patience - Belovedlove<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/07\/15\/praying-for-patience\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Praying for Patience - Belovedlove\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cWhatever you do, don\u2019t pray for patience!\u201d Have you ever heard someone say that? I know I have. 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