If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.
– Proverbs 24:10
Wow, what imagery? A fainting in the day of adversity. And when you think about it, who of us has not felt faint in days of adversity, has not felt weak or exhausted, or wondered? How can I go on?
Proverbs 24:10 encourages us to be strong in the days of adversity.
I’m guessing almost every one of us who is hearing this verse right now can think of times when you’ve just been exhausted by trials or challenges. And this proverb is an encouragement to be strong in the day of adversity. But this is where I just want to tie Proverbs 24:10 with Philippians 4:13, with the reality that in and of ourselves, we don’t have enough strength for days of adversity. But in Philippians 4:13, Paul writes, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
We have the strength of Jesus himself in us. When we face adversity, when we face trials, when we walk through valleys and challenges, it’s not dependent on us mustering up enough strength to get through each day. It’s dependent on us pressing into Jesus and trusting him for the strength, the supernatural strength that only he can provide. So I want to encourage anyone today who is walking through the day of adversity, to look to Jesus, to trust in Jesus as your strength today says in 2 Corinthians 12, when we are weak, he is strong.
Proverbs 24:10 reminds us that our strength comes from God.
And I just want to pray that over you and for us to pray that over people who we know who are walking through adversity right now. God, we pray in our lives to the extent with which any of us are walking through days of adversity. We pray for others’ lives right now who come to our minds, and who are walking through days of adversity.
God, we pray for our and for others’ strength to be great in days of adversity, and not because we have it in and of ourselves, but because of who you are and because of who you are in us, specifically Jesus, we say together with Paul in Philippians 4, we can only do all things through you who strengthen us. We can only walk through the adversity we’re facing. Others can only walk through the adversity they’re facing, through the supernatural power of your Holy Spirit, the spirit of Jesus, and your strength and them.
So God, we pray that over each other, over our lives, over others, around us. And Jesus, we praise you for your promise to be our strength, in our weakness, to be a supernatural source of wisdom and comfort and contentment and help and peace and everything we need. And ultimately, in light of Proverbs 24:10, the strength we need to not just get through adversity but strength to thrive through it.
Prayer for the Rtahu Amdo People
God, we pray for that kind of strength. And God, we pray for people around the world who face adversity without the strength of Jesus and those who’ve not heard the gospel, and who don’t have this reservoir of supernatural strength to be found in you. God, we pray specifically today for the Rtahu Amdo people of China, for this Tibetan Buddhist people group. God, we pray for a hundred thousand of them, no known followers of Jesus among them, none of them, which they walk through adversity in this world. None of them know the strength that’s found in you alone.
Jesus, we pray for the spread of your grace, your mercy, and your strength to the Rtahu Amdo people of China. Hear our prayers for them and cause the good news of your grace and your love and your power and your strength and your mercy in Jesus to spread to them. We pray all of this in light of your word in Proverbs 24:10, in Jesus’ name and the name of the one who is our strength in the day of adversity. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
