2 “How long will you go on like this?
You sound like a blustering wind.
3 Does God twist justice?
Does the Almighty twist what is right?
4 Your children must have sinned against him,
so their punishment was well deserved.
5 But if you pray to God
and seek the favor of the Almighty,
6 and if you are pure and live with integrity,
he will surely rise up and restore your happy home.
7 And though you started with little,
you will end with much.
8 “Just ask the previous generation.
Pay attention to the experience of our ancestors.
9 For we were born but yesterday and know nothing.
Our days on earth are as fleeting as a shadow.
10 But those who came before us will teach you.
They will teach you the wisdom of old.
20 “But look, God will not reject a person of integrity,
nor will he lend a hand to the wicked.
21 He will once again fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy.
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the home of the wicked will be destroyed.”
In the journey of life, there are moments that will come where life will be difficult. Things will not make sense. It could be a hardship season for you. When those seasons come, it is easy to resort back to a place of fear, second guessing our faith, and wondering if God is really alive.
This scripture Job 8:5-8 reveals the power of prayer while seeking God in those difficult life seasons. What does seeking God look like? How do you seek God in a time of trouble?
Do not be afraid to ask Him if you need help. A lot of times, there is a sense of guilt or fear wondering whether God can handle your situation. But the reality is seeking Him reveals He cares and acknowledges the effort you make
Praying and asking for wisdom until you get the assurance that God has heard you. He will provide what you need. Assurance may not automatically come to you in prayer. However, as you seek Him regarding the situation, His peace will manifest that assures you He hears and will attend to you
Be alert as you pray for the instructions that will accompany the prayers. God may impress on you to forgive an offense, or do something that may not seem relevant to what you are inquiring about in prayer, but obey even if it does not make sense to you in the moment.
You should never judge yourself in your expression of pleading with God in prayer. The posture of pleading should not be misconstrued with begging. If you have been begging God to answer your prayers, your viewpoint of Him may be one of trying to convince Him you are worthy of a breakthrough or an answer. Pleading with God is making an earnest appeal to Him from a posture of faith. Your faith in God’s power and sovereignty pushes you to appeal to Him for your breakthrough.
Pleading often pulls from an established testimony with God. You have seen His power and miraculous grace and you are confident in what He is able to do.
This scripture also reveals the power of knowing the history of God’s work in the world. Finding out what God has done from previous generations, allows us to see the continuous integrity of God’s ability to provide and take care of His own. During a time of need, you may pull on the God of your parents or grand-parents or someone who is dear to you, who has walked with the grace and power of God in such a way that it convinced you of His existence. When you know this beautiful history, it can be used to affirm your faith in the moments you need prayers answered.
I have learned that in this life, there will be trials and tribulations that you will go through. Prayer will make it possible for you to live life with hope. When you get to those seasons, may you be reminded that prayer works, a history with God is powerful, and your faith can give you the confidence to make an appeal for what you need from Him.
He is able to restore you to a prosperous state. That is something you should always desire.
Prayer
Dear Father,
I thank you today, for those who came before me, who consistently served you and established a history of faithfulness with you. I know I am an answered prayer for someone else. As I pray, help me to build a history with you, that others will be inspired by, that will make them believers in your Presence. I release any form of guilt that makes me feel afraid to appeal to you. By faith I believe, as I am seeking you earnestly, you will restore me to my prosperous state.
1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. 8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. 9 We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. 10 When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. 11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.
12 Do not let sin control the way you live;[a] do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
There is great power in what we permit to happen. We do not recognize this power we have because it is invisible and not obvious. But it is present. This scripture offers a viewpoint of self-responsibility, reminding us that we usually have a choice in what we allow to happen to our body.
The language used to describe wickedness is interesting. It can be an instrument. Which means wickedness has a rhythm and can flow like a song to produce a melody that can create memories. By the same token, the scripture describes righteousness as an instrument which means it can flow in our lives like a beautiful song.
When you think of music, it impacts everyone in a different way. There are certain songs that you hear that trigger traumatic memories, moments, or times in your life that you would rather forget. On the other hand, there are certain songs that will motivate you and inspire you to do better and push yourself to do great things.
The scripture likens righteousness to an instrument that can orchestrate appreciation and honor God for what He has done for us. Righteousness is by grace through faith. We can never be perfect or do what is right fully for there is a flesh nature in us that always desires to do what is wrong. However, as we allow the righteousness of Christ to move through our lives, the nature of God becomes appealing to us. By grace, we show our appreciation to God by resisting sin and fulfilling our destiny one day at a time.
Just as wickedness is likened to an instrument, righteousness is also likened to an instrument. I is up to us to choose what type of influence we desire to govern our lives. The scripture is clear, it is wise to choose righteousness, because we are no longer enslaved by sin. We live by the grace of God through faith.
Prayer
Dear Father,
Thank you for the gift of righteous living. I am grateful for the power of willful decision, to make the choice every day to follow you. Help me by faith to resist sin and desire righteousness. Purge the appetite of my soul that may desire to stay enslaved to sin, and arouse a desire of freedom through Christ. Let me please you by how I live, and let righteousness be revealed in my life as a testament of my faith in Jesus Christ.
Have you ever felt like you didn’t fit in because of God’s call on your life? Tired of the boxes for living faithfully that institutions and society have put on us? Want to be authentic and impactful in the work that you do? Alan Marshall II wrestled with these questions for years and found a solution in releasing his inner weirdo. His new book Unleashing Your Inner Weirdo: A Journey to Authenticity shares the wisdom, research, and encouragement believers need to embrace their unique and God given gifts and callings. UrbanFaith sat down with Alan to talk about his book and his journey. The full interview is above, excerpts from the interview are below. More about the book is below.
Allen:
My first question for you is given that you have all this experience in ministry and in business and you know, civic affairs, what made you want to write this book? What inspired you to write “Unleashing Your Inner Weirdo?”
Alan
I think the fact that I’m weird. The fact that I end up being in my head an anomaly but then realizing that other people may be just as weird as me. To think about a person who came from being a Jehovah’s Witness to travel in the world and preach the Gospel to a person who had no political or business experience ending up jumping into a hundred-million-dollar deal all because I heard from the Lord and just decided to run with what he was giving me. To do that is weird in this day. But I believe that each and every person has their gifts and their talents. That they have something about them that makes them special, something that makes them unique. And oftentimes what I find when I’m consulting with people is that they hide their weirdness. They hide some of their best abilities because they don’t know how others are going to receive them. And so, this book is about unleashing your inner weirdo coming out and hearing the voice of God and running with what he’s giving you.
Allen
You contend that believers should have a different motivation a different why. Can you talk a little bit about what that why is and why it’s important?
Alan
First we go to scripture right. The Bible says that that [Jesus] is the vine, and we are the branch and apart from him we can do nothing right in him. In Him we move and have our being. So Jesus is not the source of our why, your why is going to be perverted. It’s just how it works. Your why is going to have mission creep in it. You’re going to end up going into something that you should have probably never really [done]. But when Jesus is the center of your why he then informs what you need to do how you need to move. I was sitting with my publicist the other day and we were eating lunch, and she says like tell me a little bit about yourself like what is your niche? What sets you apart? What causes you to do stuff that like I just don’t see other people doing? And I simply said to her I hear from the Lord, and I do it. That’s it. I understand that my why is to make impact throughout this next generation throughout this generation of Millennials and Gen Z. That is my why right. And it motivates me to travel and speak and invest my time in writing books and different things like that. That is my why. And when I ask the Lord how to do it, he gives me plans to put in motion and to fulfill. You know I think of some of the greats and say I’m actually really simple. I hear from the Lord, and I do what he’s telling me to do.
Allen
What wisdom or what advice would you give to young leaders you know in whatever sphere they might be in people who are considering ministry or people who are considering business what advice would you give on how to be an authentic leader for folks who are coming up after you?
Alan
I would say the first thing I would say is one figure out who you are and a lot of times you know that’s said and it doesn’t seem that simple but there are ways that you can do that. Get mentorship that is that is willing to be transparent open and honest with you if they can do that that’s helpful. The second thing I would say is go take personality tests. Personality tests have helped me greatly especially like the disc assessment, some strength finders, personality attachment, the enneagram, all those things will help you figure out who you are but they also help you figure out who others are. Sometimes there’s just a disconnect in communication. So I would say if you want to learn to lead in authenticity and work in authenticity, simply take the time to figure out who you are and how to communicate that to others. I think that that’s not only sound advice it’s important advice because mentorship is one of the things that I feel like the generation coming after us and our generation really needed and didn’t get a lot of. But making those connections can make a huge difference.
In the changing world of ministry and leadership, the demand for authentic leaders has never been more vital. “Unleashing Your Inner Weirdo: A Journey to Authenticity” is a book intentionally designed to empower ministry professionals and Christian leaders with the tools and insights to lead with authenticity. This book is comprised of seven chapters that navigate its audience toward understanding and embracing their unique God-given attributes and developing an impactful and authentic leadership style.
In Season 2 of Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power on Prime Video, there is a glimmer of hope in the midst of great darkness as the dark lord Sauron rises and the Harfoots, Men, Elves, and Dwarves struggle for power to restore Middle Earth.
Markella Kavenagh as Nori; Megan Richards as Poppy; Daniel Weyman as The Stranger
UrbanFaith Editor Allen Reynolds sat down with Daniel Weyman, Markella Kavanaugh, and Megan Richards who play The Stranger, Nori, and Poppy respectively, to talk about this new season’s themes and the trio of hope they bring to the series.
Lisa Fields speaks to people all over the country about how faith has disappointed them and inspired them as the Founder of the Jude 3 Project. As an apologist she wants to make sure believers are equipped to defend and articulate their faith in Jesus Christ in the midst of the skepticism and difficulties of the world. In her new book When Faith Disappoints, she shares her own struggles with faith and how she has been strengthened in the midst of them as she hopes to strengthen others.
Have you ever felt like you didn’t fit in because of God’s call on your life? Tired of the boxes for living faithfully that institutions and society have put on us? Want to be authentic and impactful in the work that you do? 
In the changing world of ministry and leadership, the demand for authentic leaders has never been more vital. “
