Page 19 - The Importance of Prayer Student Textbook

As we pray for God to break us it will become a daily practice and we will discover that His Grace is
sufficient. What did Paul mean when he realized that God’s grace was sufficient in II Corinthians 12:7-
10? Paul, here, is preaching to the Corinthian people. Like many believers today, the Corinthians had a
problem with self-reliance and boasting. To go the extra mile and make a point, Paul is telling the
Corinthians he has nothing to boast about except his weakness, because his weakness makes him realize
how much he needs to rely on God. He speaks about a thorn in his side that he’s asked God to remove,
but God won’t take away the thing that makes him realize his weakness. Theologians have speculated as
to the nature of this thorn and offered numerous suggestions.

Because Paul had several revelations and visions, that could cause some Christians to be jealous of these
epiphanies; his thorn in his side brought him back to earth. Paul tries to help the Corinthians to do the
same, to realize that only God’s grace is sufficient for us, and we should boast in nothing else but God’s
grace. Like the Corinthians, we can sometimes get a little puffed up. If we have a certain spiritual gift or
a gift in a ministry; say we are strong prayer warriors for instance, we might run the risk of getting
prideful about that gift. We could forget from whom that gift came. (James 1:17) Often, we can receive
a thorn in our side to remind us of our weakness. This verse teaches us to rely on God’s grace.

We can sometimes misinterpret this verse to say God’s grace will pull us out of the hard time into
greener pastures, but we run the risk of preaching false doctrine when we say that. God will not always
remove the thorn in our side, but his grace will be all we need, thorn or no thorn.

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3 Use Me or Send Me

I am not going to go through all the background story that takes us to Isaiah 6:8 except to say this. God
is still looking for willing people to pray dangerous prayers that say, here I am Lord use me. Yes, very few
Biblical characters and people living today feel qualified when they sense the callings of God upon their
lives. (See Exodus 3, Jeremiah 1) As Jerry Falwell used to say to the young champions training for
ministry at Liberty University, “God always calls the unqualified and qualifies”. But God promises us that
if we would draw near to Him, he would draw near to us. (James 4:8) and Jeremiah 29:13 gives us a
similar promise. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Remember everything changes when we enter a love relationship with Him. Galatians 2:20 I am crucified
with Christ: nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I
live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Our Lord will search us and
try us to see if there is any self-dependence left in us. If He finds it, He will reveal it because he has to
bring us to a total dependence upon Himself. He has to bring us to the point of realization that he is the
vine and we are the branches and that without Him we can do NOTHING! (John 15:5)

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