“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 NIV

When things go wrong, my first instinct isn’t always a posture of prayer. Instead, I often adopt a posture of self-help. I act as if my theology is something along the lines of, “I’ve got this,” instead of, “God’s got this.”

You might not say it out loud, but deep within you, you might be thinking, “God is great and all, but if I want something done, I’ll have to do it myself.” And let’s face it, so many of us have poured out our hearts to God, only to feel like our prayers were just an echo in the darkness.

I found myself falling into this way of thinking recently when one of my children was facing a particularly difficult challenge that had us all in tears. I sat awake many nights in a row devising plans to “fix the problem.” I thought about ways to confront, correct, or control what was happening.

One morning, after a particularly long night, I was studying a verse in John. “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NIV). I kept looking at the tiny, three-word exclamation in the middle of that verse: “But take heart!”

Jesus didn’t say, “Take matters into your own hands.”
He didn’t say, “Take control.”
He said, “Take heart.”

Taking heart is not a posture of self-help. It’s the posture of humility. Indeed, it’s the posture of prayer. Prayer is the acknowledgement that we’re not running the show — God is. It’s a way of saying, “I trust Your ways more than mine, Lord.”

One prayer really can change everything, so don’t underestimate the power of your prayers. Don’t fall for the lie that your prayers have to be said a certain way to count. Don’t give up asking. Not now! God hears you, and no prayer is ever, ever wasted. Ask and ask again because even when our prayers don’t change our circumstances, those prayers are changing us.

Don’t give up now. You are never as powerful as that moment when you fall to your knees in prayer.

By Jennifer Dukes Lee from the (in)courage devotional journal, 100 Days of Strength in Any Struggle.