Edition 79
HELP
Last Edition Recap
How have you applied the last edition to your life?
Opening Prayer
Lord, Help. Amen.
Introduction
The man from Open Doors ministry stood before us, sharing the most powerful prayer he’d ever prayed. “I was in the airport customs line in a communist country. The authorities were searching every suitcase, ruffling through contents before allowing passengers to leave. I had two suitcases packed full of Bibles. If they searched mine, I’d be arrested and probably never see South Africa again.”
The queue moved inexorably forward. Each passenger ahead of him had their bags opened, searched, examined. His turn approached. His prayer life, usually elaborate and theological, distilled to its essence: “HELP!”
“After the officer completed searching the man before me, it was my turn. I was terrified. This was it – prison in a foreign country. I stepped up to the officer, expecting the worst, when he waved me past. He did not search my suitcases. But he stopped the person behind me and continued searching. I was the only person in that line whose bags were not searched.”
One word. Four letters. The most sophisticated prayer of his life.
We complicate prayer with eloquence, lengthen it with repetition, dilute it with uncertainty. We approach God with speeches when He’s waiting for honesty. We bring dissertations when He wants desperation. We offer negotiation when He desires surrender. Sometimes the most powerful prayer isn’t measured in minutes but in sincerity. Not in vocabulary but in vulnerability.
Throughout Scripture, God’s people cry “Help!” – and God responds. From the Israelites groaning under Egyptian slavery to Peter sinking beneath the waves, from Hannah’s barrenness to Paul’s thorn, the Bible chronicles this divine transaction: human helplessness meeting divine help. Today, witnesses still testify to how God helps them, especially when they’re obedient to Him.
Chat Point 1
How would you define genuine help versus temporary relief or enabling?
What prevents people from asking for help when they desperately need it?
Why do you think the simplest prayers are often the most powerful?
How does pride interfere with both asking for help and offering help?
What’s the connection between obedience to God and experiencing His help?
Read
Joshua 24:1-28; Romans 10:12-13; 1 Corinthians 12
Key Focus
Romans 10:12-13 – “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'”
Chat Point 2
What stood out for you about Joshua’s recounting of how God helped Israel throughout history?
Why do we need regular reminders of times when God has helped us?
When does God help us, and when might He withhold help? Why?
How does knowing “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” change your prayer life?
What prevents you from being available when God needs your help?
Final Thought
The profound truth hidden in that airport testimony isn’t just that God answered a desperate prayer. It’s the beautiful reciprocity revealed: a man risking everything to help God deliver His Word to restricted nations cries out for help – and God responds by making him invisible to the very authorities searching for Bible smugglers.
This is the divine economy of help. When we make ourselves available to help God, He makes Himself available to help us. The Bible smuggler wasn’t touring; he was serving. He wasn’t pursuing personal benefit; he was participating in God’s mission. His “HELP!” wasn’t selfish; it was strategic. He needed divine intervention not for comfort but for Kingdom purposes.
Romans 10:12-13 promises that everyone who calls on the Lord will be saved – not just from eternal damnation but from present dangers, desperate situations, impossible circumstances. The same Lord is Lord of all, richly blessing all who call. No ethnic barriers, no denominational requirements, no minimum righteousness threshold. Just call.
But here’s the challenging flip side: “Do not be the one who always asks God for His help when you’re never available to help Him.” The man with the Bibles understood this reciprocity. He’d made himself radically available to God – travelling to dangerous places, risking imprisonment, carrying prohibited materials. His availability to help God preceded his desperate need for God’s help.
Joshua 24 reminds Israel of their history of divine help, then challenges them: “Choose this day whom you will serve.” The pattern is clear – God helps, then asks for help. He delivers, then seeks deliverers. He rescues, then recruits rescuers. The question isn’t whether God will help you; Romans promises He will. The question is whether you’ll help Him.
How easily do you turn to God when you need help? Most of us eventually get there, even if pride delays us. But how easily does God receive your help when He asks? When He needs someone to forgive the unforgivable? To give beyond comfort? To speak truth in hostile environments? To carry Bibles into dangerous places?
The most powerful prayer – “HELP!” – works both directions. You cry it ascending to heaven. But can you hear it descending to earth? God asking for your help with His hurting children, His broken world, His gospel mission? The customs officer waved the Bible smuggler through because heaven had already noted how often the smuggler had waved heaven through.
Your “HELP!” reaches God instantly. But remember: His “HELP!” is trying to reach you too.
My Action
What key insight or learning from this session resonates most with me, and what do I sense God is inviting me to do in response?
Shared Prayer
What are your prayer requests?
Closing Prayer
Lord, when You call on us to help You, let us respond without reservation or hesitation. Amen.
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In-Between Chats: Personal Reflection
Where do you desperately need God’s help, and have you simply asked “HELP!”?
Where might God be asking for your help that you’ve been avoiding or ignoring?
How can you increase your availability to God this week so He can increase His availability to you?
Edition Writer: Rev Kevin Zondagh
Methodist Minister, Personal Development Specialist, Life Coach, Relationship Coach and Executive Coach. Founder and Owner of Exemplar Coaching Pty Ltd and CoffeeChatConnect. "We should have the desire to custom design the only life we have. After-all, we buy designer everything. How much more should we Live by Design, not by default?"