{"id":1440,"date":"2023-04-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-11T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/2023\/04\/11\/prayer-suffering\/"},"modified":"2023-04-11T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-11T06:00:00","slug":"prayer-suffering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/2023\/04\/11\/prayer-suffering\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Have Hope In The Midst of Suffering"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>This post contains affiliate links, which means that STAR earns a small commission on products purchased through these links at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the mission of STAR in this way!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s been about three months since I wrote my blog post about prayer, specifically relating to the power of prayer in Damar Hamlin\u2019s life. Damar Hamlin was a football safety for the Buffalo Bills who suffered cardiac arrest and was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. If you haven\u2019t had a chance to read my blog post, <a href=\"https:\/\/star991.com\/prayer-is-relational\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">you can check it out here<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just three short months ago, various media outlets and the country at-large embraced the \u201cPrayer Works\u201d movement with open arms. Football fans united in the stands and prayed for Damar Hamlin\u2019s life. Prayer vigils formed outside his hospital. We watched reporters pray on-air for God to save his life. Players and coaches took a knee and bowed down before our Creator. It felt like the whole world was placing their trust in God to protect Hamlin, and Hamlin survived.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Media Headlines January 2023: <\/strong><strong><em>Prayer Works. Answered Prayers. Prayer is Real.<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>PRAYER EMBRACED. GOD FIXED OUR PROBLEM.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">God gets\u2026 the glory?&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Fast forward to today where we are reeling from the latest mass shooting at the Covenant School, a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee. Instead of lives saved and protected, we are dealing with multiple lives lost and a lifetime of suffocating grief and pain that will be etched in the hearts of the victim&#8217;s family members, friends, and our nation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many, including myself, are praying over this horrific tragedy and for the families and communities who are grieving. But this time, I noticed that the media headlines regarding prayer over this tragedy have taken a drastic turn from the warm embrace of prayer just three short months ago with Damar Hamlin\u2019s healing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Media Headlines March 2023: <\/strong><strong><em>Prayer does not work. We don\u2019t want your stupid thoughts and prayers. Prayer is not enough.&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>PRAYER REJECTED. GOD DID NOT FIX OUR PROBLEM.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A quick glance at how prayer has been received this time around:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tennessee State Senator Heidi Campbell said,<em> \u201cWe don\u2019t need<\/em> <em>thoughts and prayers.\u201d&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gun control activist Shannon Watts said,<em> &#8220;If prayers alone worked there wouldn\u2019t have been a mass shooting at a school where they pray.&#8221; <\/em>she tweeted.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">God gets\u2026.?&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When I see this disparity between prayer working and prayer not working, I am reminded how we (believers and nonbelievers alike) often equate prayer with the termination of suffering: \u201cIf it doesn\u2019t terminate suffering, then it\u2019s not working.\u201d And then some conclude, \u201cWell then, there must be no God\u201d.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So we take matters into our own hands and spend time and energy trying to terminate suffering from our lives, hoping to be the savior of our own lives.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I get it. We don\u2019t like suffering. I don\u2019t like suffering. I don\u2019t want it and sometimes I try to live my life as if it\u2019s not there or I find ways to remove it as quickly as possible.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Life is hard:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by their partner (<a href=\"https:\/\/ncadv.org\/STATISTICS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National Coalition Against Domestic Violence<\/a>). If you listen to just one hour of my show, that\u2019s 1,200 people that are being physically hurt during that one hour.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Almost 6,000 children become orphans every day due to war, natural disaster, poverty, disease, stigma and medical needs (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.orphanslifeline.org\/orphan-fact-sheet#:~:text=According%20to%20UNICEF%2C%20almost%205700,1%20child%20every%2017%20seconds.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Orphans Lifeline<\/a>).&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There are over 600,000 cancer deaths happening every single day (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/cancer\/dcpc\/research\/update-on-cancer-deaths\/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CDC<\/a>).&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It\u2019s estimated that one person dies of hunger every four seconds (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wvi.org\/newsroom\/hunger-crisis\/humanitarian-organisations-estimate-one-person-dying-hunger-every-four\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">World Vision<\/a>).&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">God tells us that there will be suffering in this world:&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the<\/em> <em>world. <\/em>&#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=John+16&amp;version=NLT\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">John 16:33<\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My hope lies in our mighty Conqueror who has prepared a place for us. It\u2019s our mighty Savior who frees us of earthly suffering or promises to walk with us right through it.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\u2019t think \u201cunanswered prayer\u201d or suffering means that we stop praying or see prayer as futile. Suffering doesn\u2019t mean that God doesn\u2019t exist. For me, it\u2019s a constant reminder that we are made for another world:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u201cWhile other worldviews lead us to sit in the midst of life\u2019s joys,<\/em> <em>foreseeing the coming sorrows, Christianity empowers its people to sit<\/em> <em>in the midst of this world\u2019s sorrows, tasting the coming joy.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<cite>-Tim Keller, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/41lbjWr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering<\/a>&#8220;<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\u2019t know how to do this life without Christ; without Him, suffering would be intolerable. But this is the hope we have today: that we CAN have HIS JOY, here and now, in the midst of the world\u2019s sorrows, knowing that a complete restoration waits for us.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">So what can we do today?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Embrace prayer; a gift that allows us to communicate with our great Lord.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Grieve with the families and communities in Nashville, Tennessee.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Weep over the evil that destroys this world and lives in its wake.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Be the changemakers and waymakers by living out how He has called us to live, to love the things He loves, and to be fierce protectors of His most cherished possessions\u2026.His creation.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pray for this world to know Jesus as their Savior. Pray for healing, protection, for Christ\u2019s swift return and for hearts to be softened and to turn from all evil.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Devin Almonte&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Host of Encouraging STAR Stories, STAR 99.1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We can have His joy, here and now, in the midst of the world\u2019s sorrows, knowing that a complete restoration waits for us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":1441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[24,28,30],"class_list":["post-1440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration","tag-encouragement","tag-inspiration","tag-prayer"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-13 22:41:32","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}