Helping Through Prayer

2 Corinthians 1:8-11

For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many.

Laying aside for the moment questions about the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility, we should pay careful attention to the role Paul claims the Corinthians played in his deliverance from his troubles. In Paul’s difficulties, he learned to trust more fully in God. It was the God who raises the dead that delivered Paul.

But the Corinthians were not mere spectators, sitting on the bleachers in the colosseum, passively watching the drama unfold, anxious as to whether Paul would be torn to pieces and swallowed up by the lion of his affliction, and cheering when the Lord steps into the arena to take up Paul’s cause and slay his tormentor. They were vital participants in the drama with Paul.

God is the deliverer. Only the Lord can raise the dead. Only Christ can snatch us from the jaws of the lion. That does not mean that we have no role to play. God invites us to join Him in the conflict and fight alongside Him for the sake of others. And one of the weapons he puts in our hands is prayer.

Paul exhorts us with the Corinthians when he says, “You must also help us by prayer…”

Pray for one another.