Charles Stanley Daily Devotional 3rd July 2025 (In Touch) Thursday Message
TOPIC: Our Helper in Prayer
SCRIPTURE READING – John 14:16-17
In today’s passage, Jesus promises to send us a Helper who will be with us forever. The Holy Spirit seals our relationship with God and counsels us on how to pray (Romans 8:26).
We sometimes believe that we should come to God only when we have a need. However, prayer is about intimacy with the Father. If the Lord gave us whatever we wanted as soon as we asked Him, we would not be able to understand the dynamic of our relationship—and might never learn the importance of developing patience and dependence on God.
Think about the apostle Paul. It was only after he implored three times for his “thorn in the flesh” to be removed that God gave him a firm “no” (2 Corinthians 12:7-8). That probably referred to three protracted periods of time that Paul begged for relief.
When we have been praying for a long time about something and don’t feel as if our words are going anywhere, that is not the time to quit. A better approach is to pray through those situations so we understand what the Lord is teaching us through our circumstances. God is listening attentively to our cries, and His Spirit is our constant companion—even when we cannot “feel” His presence or involvement in our lives. Instead of ceasing to pray, we must call on the Holy Spirit to help us persevere.
Bible in One Year: Psalm 119
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: When answers are slow in coming, ask the Holy Spirit to help you persevere in prayer.
Dr. Charles F. Stanley was the founder of In Touch Ministries and a New York Times best-selling author. Throughout his ministry, he demonstrated a keen awareness of people’s needs and provided Christ-centered biblically based principles for everyday life