Daily Hope with Rick Warren 5th March 2025, Wednesday Message
There’s No Recovery Without Prayer
By Rick Warren
“The people came to Moses and said, ‘We sinned . . . Now pray to the LORD to take these snakes away.’ So Moses prayed.” Numbers 21:7 (GNT)
What happens when you add prayer to your recovery process? You begin to heal from your hurts, habits, and hang-ups.
But many people try to recover from problems on their own—without turning to God in prayer. This never works because there is no lasting recovery without prayer.
There are many examples of prayer leading to recovery in the Bible. One example is found in the Old Testament. After God had rescued the Israelites from Egypt, there was a 40-year delay in getting to the Promised Land. This delay was their own fault. They didn’t like where they were, and they didn’t like the food—the manna—that God had provided for them.
The Bible says, “The people were very discouraged; they began to murmur against God and to complain against Moses” (Numbers 21:4-5 TLB). They could have taken their problems to God in prayer. Instead, they turned against God.
Then God sent poisonous snakes, and many people got bitten and became sick. The Israelites knew the only solution was to ask Moses to pray for them—and he did. Then God gave Moses a plan. He told Moses: “Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover” (Numbers 21:8 CSB). And the people who looked at the image recovered!
God is a God of recovery. In fact, the entire mission of Jesus was (and is) a search and recovery mission: “to seek and to save people who are lost” (Luke 19:10 GW).
Maybe you’re feeling lost and discouraged today. You’re thinking, “This is just taking too long. I should be further down the road. I’m too old to not be where I thought I’d be at this stage in my journey.”
That’s okay! When you’re not where you want to be in life, that can be what motivates you to change – so you can get you where you want to be. Don’t let your discouragement keep you from God. Instead, let it lead you to pray.
No matter the delays or difficulties in your life, recovery begins when you turn to God in prayer.
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