Turning Your Trials into Triumphs

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham later in the program will tell you how you can get a copy of Dr. Graham's brand-new book will reignite the first hears his message turning your file in the time your Bible and turned to the book of James. The passage that is in front of us today in James chapter 1 is a passage about prayer specifically praying for pain praying through trials praying through tears. When you don't know how to pray when you don't know what to pray. Trials drive us to our knees and often to our face prayer when we are hurting.

We need help and we had the helper who is the spirit of supplication and prayer, and we can experience trials and wrote through those trials, not just go through those trials or get through those trials, but we can actually grow through our trials. That's the point of this passage at the outset that God uses trials painful as they may be as a process to make us more like Jesus.

Not always comfortable to be a Christian but that Christ is making is conformable to himself, not comfort, but conformity. We are to be made more and more like Christ in God uses trials to shape us and make us more and more like Christ. I discovered the Christian life that pain is inevitable, but misery is optional. That's why James says counted all joy when you add it all up. It is unspeakable joy and therefore we can say, rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.

But that takes prayer and more specifically prayer for wisdom. Praying for God's wisdom. Well, let me show you what I mean by by just reading this text to.

In fact, I'm going to read it from a paraphrase of James chapter 1 beginning in verse two.

The Philips paraphrase is a good one is an oldie but goodie at because I think is a new way of hearing this for us today when all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives. My brothers don't resist them or resent them as intruders but welcome them as friends. I love that realize is the old English spelling by the way that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance, but let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed. You must endure to mature and you will find you have become man of mature character with the right sort of independent and if in the process.

Any of you does not know how to meet any particular problem.

How many of us who say there many times in my life that I don't know how to meet the problem in front of I would. So what you do any of you has a particular problem.

You only have to ask God, who gives generously to all men without making them feel foolish or guilty, and he may be quite sure that the necessary wisdom. Note that word in your Bibles wisdom will be given him. But he must ask insincere faith without secret doubts as to whether he really wants God's help or not the man who trusts God but within wood reservation is like a wave of the sea carried forward by the wind. One moment and driven back the net that sort of man cannot hope to receive anything from God and the life of a man of divided loyalty will reveal instability at every turn when you face trials you need to learn what God is teaching you and everything in it and threw it in the way you learn is through wisdom, God gives us wisdom when we ask in the midst of our trials. You may be facing a decision today. You don't know what to do and is stressing you out and you run here and there asking people questions you gotten pen and paper out.

Sometimes this is fine. You put down the yeses in the nose and before is that against but you still don't know what to do. You need to run to God and ask him for wisdom and he will show maybe you're in a dark night of euros so and you need light in the night you need to know what to do and how to experience life's trials and to do it with joy rather than defeat. So what you do when life hurts number one you praying you pray for perspective because he speaks here of wisdom said pray for wisdom that is man's wisdom and there's God's wisdom man's wisdom. James Tellis says later in his letter is from below, but God's wisdom is from above, and so as Christians we seek God's wisdom. He is the source of all wisdom. Jesus, who grew in wisdom and stature in favor with God and man is the wisdom of God. He is wisdom personified. Jesus is the wonderful counselor who likes the night with his presence. Emmanuelle and guides and guards us.

He is wisdom. So wisdom is a spiritual experience. Remember when trials come our way and we are to count it all joy. The only way we can do that is to wise up and to move from experience to wisdom and wisdom is understanding is understanding God's ways and God's will.

Moses once pray Lord, teach me your way we can look around us and see God's works and they are powerful, wonderful. But we must pray and go deeper to know God's ways in our lives as a prayer to pray is a prayer for insight for understanding and when we cry out to God in prayer with wisdom he hears us and answers this is not always the answer we want but is always the answer that we need James is reminding us that more than anything else in our trials and our troubles in our tests we need to pray and start with the fact that we need help the most basic prayer all a prayer that any Christian can pray is this how help me God because it is the realization that we can help ourselves. We getting situations that we cannot solve that we cannot fix we try we do our best but only God can give us wisdom as to how to respond to these trials in our lives. We are going round and round and one of the storms of your life and you feel like you got spiritual vertigo. You don't know which end is up. Pray for wisdom. What you do when you don't know what to do. How do you find a way when there seems to be no way you pray and wait on God's wisdom. There are nine Hebrew words in the Bible for prayer. There are five New Testament Greek words translated prayer, but the simplest and the most ablest of all of the words is simply this word that James uses. Pastor James says ass just asked all you have to do is ask verse 17 of James one tells us that God is the father of all good things. All good things come from him will answer when we ask the only prayer that is unanswered is the prayer that is on ass.

James will tell us later in the letter you have not because you asked not. And if you don't have wisdom today. It is because you have not pray with perspective, asking for wisdom.

When God gives us wisdom in prayer. He most of the time does it through his word. There is no situation in your life. No subject in your life that is not dealt with God's word so if you want wisdom is in the work. Wisdom is finding and fulfilling God's word and God's will in your life. So pray like that.

And God who is good and God who is generous to supply all of our needs. James tells us look at it there in James one, he will give us generously or lavishly or literally is a beautiful word picture at the word give lavishly or liberally. It means with an outstretched hand with an outstretched arm.

Beautiful. It is as though God is stretching out his arm to help us or setting the table banquet less don't think a prayer is overcoming God's reluctant, but rather laying hold of his highest willingness and desire to bless you for listening powerfully with Jack Graham in the message.

Turning your trials into triumphs bring fresh passion and joy to your faith. Dr. Graham's newest book, reignite an intimate account of how God let Dr. Graham to one of the darkest seasons of his life.

Whether you're facing disappointment, doubt, depression, or heartache. Reignite offers biblical insights to encourage you in your pain and help fan the flames of faith in your life and it's our way to thank you for your gift of PowerPoint called today to get your copy of reignite as thanks for your support: 800-795-4627 that's 1-800-795-4627 can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop you store give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional our website again is Jack Graham.Margie. Now let's get back to today's message.

Turning your trials in the trial's God is saying to us if you have a question you don't understand. He's not going to say you again. Really we been over this again and again and again and again God's not going to say something like you made this mess. You get yourself out of it.

The word actually means. Keep on asking till the answer comes. That's why Jesus said, keep on asking. Keep on seeking keep on knocking NAS K assets, prayer is the simplest word of all and yet the most powerful you can ask God why in the upper room. It was a dark night before the cross, Jesus had been preparing the disciples of the cross.

He then spoke of going to have an in preparing a place and he said that when I go to heaven said, you know where I'm going and you know the way Thomas looked around everybody else's got her head down. Thomas raises his hand remember him calling doubting Thomas. He's really believing Thomas had enough doubt, to believe and ask and he said Lord we don't know the way where you going and how we get there and that's when Jesus gave us one of the greatest scriptures in all the Bible I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the father except through me.

I'm so glad that Thomas asked that question because many of us know Jesus today because he was bold enough to ask in Jesus answered his question. Even Jesus asked why on the cross, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me so you can come with your questions. You can come with your doubts and come with your fears but pray in faith and in focus and I got to get this with soundbites and on Twitter Snapchat and whatever to take time in the word and listening to God to hear and receive God's wisdom. So when you're in the middle of the griddle asked God to teach you because mostly we learn more in adversity than in prosperity right we learn more in our losses than in our victories typically ask God to strengthen you. Ask God to help you ask God to get you through and then watch a full of wisdom till your heart and ultimately you will come to a place of peace and rest to trust in God, who knows what he's doing.

Pray with for perspective and with perspective and then pray with patients.

He talks in this passage about enduring and persevering and when we pray we are to pray with faith and trust and to keep on praying and not give up.

That's why he said if any of you pray and doubt.

If you doubt in your like the surf of the sea. This blowing one way and then the other, and everything is unstable. So you have to pray in faith believing and persevering when you're in a crisis of the darkness creeps in and you're tempted to doubt and we all are – when we need to doubt our doubts and believe our beliefs because doubt is dangerous if our faith fails. Where else do we have, to stand out. James is not talking about saving faith here but sustaining faith that trust God and holds on and hangs on the remains per faith that keeps on holding on, hoping on faith that praise and never gives up. What did Jesus say, pray, and do not quit the opposite of faith is fear and doubt and James therefore gives us this picture of a person like a wave the surf of the sea driven by the waves of the sea, and he describes his unbeliever as again not saving faith but an unbelieving believer, you will. He describes this kind of doubt as being double minded word literally means to sold or to face. It indicates impurity on impure heart and instability.

It describes competing thoughts bouncing around in your head faith and unbelief. A divided line, resulting in unstable action, unstable in all his ways. My friend Tony Evans, Dr. Evans described it this way.

He said there are three ways to approach trials. Faith says yes. Unbelief says no, and doubt says yes and no. James says if you pray like that. Don't expect to receive anything from God. Wisdom or anything else. If you come to God and say Lord I want some of your way and some of my way. I promise you, God's not going to play that game. He just won't. But if you come to the Lord and say Lord your way, your will, anywhere, anytime, any costs God will show you his ways. If you want God to help you surrender your all to him and don't bear take it back. Otherwise your unstable bouncing back and forth like the way going up and down like a roller coaster around and around. That's no way to live, then pray with praise and James being a good pastor and preacher gives us an illustration of this.

Pray for wisdom and he uses a rich man and a poor man. As illustration, he tells us in verses 9 to 11 that there is a poor man who praises God because he realizes that even though he doesn't have anything he has nothing that God supplies all of his needs and so I praises God.

And then there's a rich man a rich man who has everything, but then he loses it all and he realizes that he really didn't have anything because he didn't have God he didn't have wisdom. So now I praises God that God brought into the end of himself and the end of his wealth and his recesses resources to bring him to faith. Rich man, poor man. The rain falls on the Johnson on the unjust. The rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated and if you are poor if you don't have anything then you can praise God who provides for your needs and trust him through it all. You pray Lord I don't have any money but I do have my life.

I got my family I got my kids. I got my health and even if you are so poor. You have none of that. You can pray Lord I got you I have you when you get to the place in your life when you discover that Jesus is all you have. You will know that is all you need. But then there's a rich man who has plenty of money, he loses his health, his wife, his kids, his marriage, and realizes I can't help myself. So Lord, thank you for bringing me to the end of myself and humbling me so that I could come to you. Praise God always because whatever you need.

Whether you are rich or poor or something someone in between. He will supply all your needs.

Through the trials through the years and to through the tears of your life. One final thing, pray with promise, James 12 112, read this again from another translation is so good it says happy is the man who being tested is holding his ground. That's what I wanted you to see because that's what the phrase means holding your ground because having been approved, you shall receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him. This is so sweet because when the trial is done being in this life or the life to come, when the trial is over and you pass the test you get to graduate graduate and the diploma in this case is the crown of life. Now the crown can refer to the eternal crown and certainly we look forward to the day that we are crown rewarded when we are faithful to Christ because we take our crowns and we play them at Jesus feet, but I believe James really is talking about, not an eternal crown so much here, but an earthly crown. A temporal crown.

The crown of life. The Bible says we are to reign in life.

For the Lord Jesus Christ, the crown mention here is the victor's crown is the crown that was given to athletes when they competed and won the race. God rewards people with the prize to run the race and finished the course with spiritual victory to keep pressing on. How long is your trial going to last. I don't know but I know when you persevere through the pain. When you keep going when you want to give up when you keep pressing on and praising God when it hurts so bad you don't know whether you can stand it. Another minute we learn to love God by his wisdom, more than ever when you know him better than you've ever known him before as wisdom. I know this in the trials of my own life. He is seem dearer and near to me than any other time cling to him cherish experiences.

You know what's God's work is missing completely in the message. Turning your trials into triumph, chances are you faced your share of crisis. Maybe you're even in the fight of your life right now. Or maybe you're simply feeling exhausted by the busyness of life in Santa spiritual strength. Whatever you're facing. We want to help fan the flame of faith in your life by sending you Dr. Graham's newest book reignite this personal account have God let Dr. Graham through his own crisis will help me focus on God during difficult season. See you can experience fresh passion and joy in Jesus and will send you a copy as thanks for your gift today.

Call now to request your copy of reignite, when 800-795-4627 that's one 800-7956 27 can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop the store, get a gift online or sign up with Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional our website again is Jack Graham.Margie pastor. What is your PowerPoint for today.

Prayer should never be our last chance with our first choice and trials test difficulties should drive us to prayer on our knees on our faces before the Lord. The most basic prayer any Christian can pray is very simple.

Help help me God that prayer comes from the realization that we cannot help ourselves. We can't fix things ourselves.

We all get in situations that we can't control. We try we do our best but only God can give us wisdom to handle trials in our lives. To properly respond to the trials in our lives. And so when you're going round and round and round in a dark storm of life and you feel like you got some kind of spiritual vertigo – the time to pray for God's wisdom and God's wisdom is seeing things from his perspective.

You see when you face trials you need to learn what God is teaching in the way you learn is to the wisdom he gives you when you simply ask him so pray and ask for wisdom ask God to show you what you need to know what you need to learn during times of difficulty.

The wisdom of God helps us move from knowing absolutely nothing and a painful experience to understanding God's good purposes through anything that comes our way. Ask God to help you ask God to give you hope, pray and seek his face and then watch as wisdom fills your heart and give you the peace that only comes from knowing him and what God wants to do in your life and that is today. Remember when you give a gift PowerPoint today will send you Dr. Graham's brand-new book. I is our thanks. Call one 800-7954 627-1800 795-4627 can also text the word PowerPoint 31313123131. Join us again next time. Dr. Graham brings a message about how to choose the life God created that's next time on PowerPoint with PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint ministries