Prayer That Fuels Your Attitude

I had just spent three hours in the emergency room, yet could not sleep the entire night because I was so filled with God’s joy. A few hours before, life had been as good as it could get. I was on stage speaking to about 13,000 people, and then just like that, I was being rushed to the hospital. I had just walked off the stage, sat on a stool and lost my balance. I fell backward, tried to catch myself, but it was too late. My shoulder had ripped away and my body went into shock. I couldn’t move, and the pain was literally the worst I had ever known.

When your body goes into shock, you lose your sight and your heartbeat gets weak—or at least that was my experience. As we waited for the ambulance to arrive, a woman put her hand on my face and said, “Just rest right here.” It was the most gentle touch I have known in the midst of physical pain. It was the only thing that brought me comfort.

The next few hours were filled with pain, until they got my arm back into place. But something happened that is so hard to explain. It was like the wind. I can’t explain it, but I feel it and know it was there. I felt the joy of the Lord. I can’t explain the situation and don’t want to rationalize it, but God got my attention. I was humbled, but in the moment, I felt His amazing strength.

The other day, on Chicago Talk Radio, I was asked, “Sam, how does prayer play a role for someone who is going through all these hard times?”

My response was: “Here is what I know. God is not so much in the business of changing the circumstance as He is in the business of changing us for the circumstance. When my body wants me to pray, ‘Lord, take this away,’ I have learned to pray, ‘God, make me bigger and stronger to overcome this.'”

Whether you have a great attitude or one that is idle and can’t get above the bar of average, we all need something to add fuel to our outlook. At the end of the day, I have to recharge my cell phone for it to be effective and do what it was meant to do. The same goes for us. As a Christ follower, our attitude needs to be fueled to get through the adversity that we face daily. Every day our attitude will be tested. That is a given, so here are some points to remember to keep your attitude fueled by faith:

1. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:2). Renewing your mind involves resting. It requires feeding on God’s Word. God’s Word is living and active, and it can empower your attitude to be joyful no matter what you are going through.

2. You are not a victim; you are just on a journey called “life.” Nobody wants adversity, but God is greater than whatever you go through. “For Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth'” (Rom. 9:17).

3. “Do not dwell on the past” (Is. 40:18). You cannot change the picture behind you, but you can determine the picture you walk toward in front of you.

4. Change what you think about, and you change what comes about. Create a positive anchor for your attitude. “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Phil. 4:8).

Attitude drives our actions and creates results. The question is, what is fueling your attitude?

Sam Glenn, “The Authority on Attitude,” is a sought-after motivational speaker, author and workplace consultant. He is also the founder of Attitude Digest magazine, a quarterly print publication and online community aimed at inspiring those in the workplace and beyond (see www.attitudedigest.com and www.samglenn.com). Sam got his start speaking for the Billy Graham Evangelical Association more than a decade ago.

 

This article originally appeared in New Man e-magazine.