Where does your strength come from?

We know that God is mighty in strength as scripture is filled with references to God’s strength. David praised God’s strength in his song of thanksgiving in 1 Chronicles 16:10-11 when he had the ark brought to Jerusalem. “Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.¹¹Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” David knew seeking God was the correct action to receive strength at all times. Later in Psalms he writes how God strengthen his heart in Psalm 73:26 “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” , equips and brings righteousness with His strength Psalm 18:32 “the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless.”, and His strength brings blessing Psalm 84:5 “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.”

There are so many others who wrote about God’s strength. Isaiah proclaimed God’s strength for those in need in Isaiah 40:29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength“. Habakkuk proclaimed God’s strength and ability to lift him above his circumstances in Habakkuk 3:19 “God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.”

In the New Testament we are encouraged to seek God’s strength through prayer. Luke 21:36 Jesus exhorts the disciples to pray for the strength to combat the temptations of the world that would lead us astray, “But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Paul reminds us in Ephesians to pray for strength that comes through faith and trust in Christ, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,” Ephesians 3:14-18 In Philippians Paul pens one of my favorite verses about God’s strength, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13

What do you know and feel about God’s strength? Is His strength accessible to you in prayer? Do you ask for His strength daily in your life or only when you are in times of great need? Scripture shows us that God’s strength is available to us so that we may be strong of heart, filled with love and conviction for Christ, equipped to do His work and to be able to stand in adversity. Philippians 4:13 would even go so far as to say God can make the impossible possible through His strength. Do not be lacking in strength because you neglected to pray and ask for strength. Jesus said in John 16:24 “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” James 4:2 “You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.” We know God desires us to be strong and living in His strength daily, so ask Him for strength whenever you need it.