52 Prayers from the Bible

A Prayer of Hopelessness

¹³ Gideon said to Him, "Please Sir, if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about? They said, 'Hasn't the LORD brought us out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian." ¹⁴ The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the power of Midian. Am I not sending you?" ¹⁵ He said to Him, "Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father's house." ¹⁶ "But I will be with you," the LORD said to him. "You will strike Midian down [as if it were] one man." (Judges 6:13-16)

1. Why did God come to Gideon?
2. What was happening in Israel?
3. Why was Gideon reluctant to obey?
4. What was God’s answer?
5. Has God ever told you to do something you thought you could not do?
6. How can this story inform our prayers today?

Scripture courtesy of BibleGateway.com. All Scripture text is from the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved. "52 Prayers from the Bible" is Copyright © 2009 by Kevin Binkley and Emmanuel Baptist Church of Rochester, Minnesota.