FINDING STRENGTH

Lindsay has seen how the world assigns value and worth to females or even devalues them. She says, “It is important for women to understand their true worth and value in Christ. By doing so, it will impact your decisions and how you live your life.” When you look at strong women in the Bible and throughout history you can see how they act, respond, listen, and speak. “In my many years of ministry, I have found that women with inner strength, the kind that only knowing God can bring, react differently than women who don’t operate from that same kind of strength.”

For example, women with true strength are different in the way they give, how they interact with their families, and how they respond to unexpected circumstances. She shares three verses to encourage you in your journey towards discovering great strength in Him:
1.    “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10) – In other words, you can be strong in the Lord not just in your own power. You must recognize that He is Lord, He has the power. Lindsay says, “I have to remind myself that the pressure’s off; I don’t have to have mighty power. I just have to connect to the One who does, and you can connect to that power too.”
2.    “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13) “Once we realize that, by faith, we can connect to the One who is all-powerful, almighty, all strength, we can put that strength to good use and believe we can do everything God has called us to do,” shares Lindsay.
3.    “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10) – Lindsay reveals, “When we can connect with the strength that God makes available to us, we are able to do what we’re called to do, and we can live in a continuous state of joy.” Circumstances in life can change, but how we approach each situation with happiness puts us in a position of strength.

STRENGTH STEALERS

Lindsay defines strength stealers as “situations, experiences, or relationships that cause you to feel like something has taken a vacuum cleaner to your courage, your fight, or your passion and sucked the strength out of you.” Be careful of these situations because they can leave you depleted. Some possible strength stealers in your life could be a devastating loss, a daunting task, an unwanted divorce, or unexpected financial pressure. 

For Lindsay, a significant strength stealer she had to work through was the possibility of not having children when doctors were certain she wouldn’t. For years, she suffered miscarriages, endured surgeries, and lost her newborn son hours after his birth. Instead of allowing these circumstances to weaken her, she relied on God and supportive family and friends. As a result, her faith grew stronger as she continued to trust God for children. Eventually, she had three daughters. “I believe we are living in a day when, as women of God, our strength is needed more than ever. I also believe that with God, we can be stronger than we already are.”

A few years ago, she experienced another strength stealer when she was told she had thyroid cancer. Soon after her diagnosis her husband Richard bought her a little yellow rubber duck. He reminded Lindsay, “You are not a sitting duck. You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Now, Lindsay, expect a miracle.” Today Lindsay is cancer free. She is healthy and thankful for the miracle working power of God. P. 84

STRENGTH BUILDERS    

As a woman of God your strength is needed more than ever. Godly strength as Lindsay defines it is, “Trusting God for the ability to stand firm and confident in the face of life’s difficulties and being able to remain peaceful and composed when life’s storms come our way.” Some strength builders she shares include:
•    Know when to say yes, no, or nothing at all. When Lindsay married Richard, she had to learn when to say yes and when to say no. “God doesn’t always direct women to say yes to every opportunity, every situation, and everyone. Sometimes answering no is the best quality decision we can make. Strong godly women learn that it’s okay to say no and learn when to say it.”
•    Choose to forgive. Forgiveness is an act of obedience to God. It sets you free from the situation and allows you to heal instead of continuing to rehearse it in your mind and becoming bitter.    
•    Become a good listener. Strong women listen with their ears and their hearts. When someone is speaking, give them your undivided attention, provide practical feedback, defer judgement, and respond appropriately and respectfully.

Ask God to reveal to you areas of personal strength. “My hope is that you will begin to identify spiritual strengths, physical strengths, emotional strengths, financial strengths, and even relational strengths and see how those strengths can become assets to help you succeed at home, at work, or anywhere else.” Here are some words that she wants you to consider as possible strengths that you may have never thought of: persistent, motivated, diligent, and strong under pressure.

STRONG WOMEN PRAY

When Lindsay was pregnant with her daughter Jordan, she had a great pregnancy yet became fearful as her due date was approaching. She called on Richard to pray for her. However, as he began to pray, he felt something was wrong. The Holy Spirit began showing him that Lindsay needed to pray for herself and take authority over the fear that was robbing her of peace. She went into her bedroom and prayed by herself. Within minutes, she felt peace and the fear subsided. 

As you pray, Lindsay suggests three effective methods to help you gain victory in whatever circumstances you are facing: (1) Pray by yourself and pray the Word; (2) Find a prayer partner, someone you can trust; and (3) Join with other seasoned prayer warriors in corporate prayer.

ABOUT LINDSAY

Lindsay Roberts is a minister, writer, editor, sought-after speaker, wife, mother, and lifelong student of the Bible. She hosts the inspirational women’s television program Make Your Day Count. Lindsay cohosts, with her husband, Richard, The Place for Miracles, a half-hour interactive broadcast that reaches millions of viewers worldwide. She is editor and publisher for ministry publications and is the author of numerous books.
She helped her father-in-law, Oral Roberts, by editing several of his books. Before his death in 2009, Oral told Lindsay that God had given him a vision that she was to help women discover who they are in Christ. Lindsay has shared that message since. 

To purchase your copy of Lindsay Robert's book, "Discover Your True Strength," please visit: www.OralRoberts.com; Find out more about Lindsay Roberts at www.GoVictory.com/ministry/lindsay-roberts.
 

“The doctors gave me the bleak outlook,” Patti Nichols said. “I could not believe it. ‘Oh, God, what do I do now? He's my best friend.’ The worst thing that I could imagine would be losing him.”

On March 8, 2015, Doug and Patti were vacationing in Florida. Having walked the beach earlier, they sat down for lunch, and that’s when Patti noticed there was something terribly wrong with her husband.

“I looked over at him and I thought, ‘Oh, gosh, he's having a stroke,’” Patti said. “His face was not quite right and when he was talking to me it was all gibberish. I said, ‘We need to go to the doctor now.’”

Patti drove Doug to the ER. Hours later, doctors told Patti that he had indeed experienced a mini stroke and that they would monitor him overnight. She returned to their condo to get some rest, only to receive a call letting her know that Doug was moved to another hospital and that he had suffered a massive stroke in the ambulance.  

“I met the doctor there and he said, ‘Come with me.’ So, we went to the little room and he showed me the scan of his brain,” Patti said. ‘As you can see, he lost two thirds of the right side of his brain, which affected his left side of the body. We don't know if he's going to make it through the night.’ It was scary. Then, I was talking to God and I was just saying, ‘You know what? It is in your hands.”

Patti picked up her phone and called everyone she could think of asking them to pray for Doug. Then something happened that night.

“As I was laying there, I was worried about not being able to go to sleep and what was going to happen next,” Doug said. “I felt that there was like a presence in the room that I couldn't explain. In hindsight, I guess that could have been all the intercessory prayers that were happening at that time. Its origin was somewhere from God, that's all I know. It calmed me and eventually I fell asleep for a while. The next morning my wife did come in the room. The first thing that I said to her was, ‘Remember, you promised to God, in sickness or in health, till death do we part.’”

“Seeing Doug there after his stroke in the ICU with that big smile on his face, it just, I knew things were okay,” Patti said. “I just knew it. I knew God had us and we were going to be fine.”

Doug had an atrial fibrillation, the cause of his strokes, that doctors were trying to bring under control with medication. He also still lacked motor function on the left side of his body. But prayers continued to pour in, and by day eight, Doug’s Afib was under control and he began walking.

“Incredible,” Doug said. “I couldn't believe that I was back on my feet. ‘God is at work, look at what God has done.’ That's when the real impact of the intercessory prayers was starting to hit me. ‘Here it is, living proof, right? I can walk again.’”

Doug was in rehab for four months, regaining ninety-five percent of his motor functions. A surgery was performed to correct his Afib and he soon began driving and working again. Then, nearly one year to the day, Doug and Patti returned to Florida to finish their vacation.

“I was going to get my run on the beach, which I had been cheated out of the first trip,” Doug said. “It was the most emotional run that you could ever imagine. I was literally running and crying, praising God. I decided I was going to collect some shells to remember the run by. Little did I know that on Christmas I would receive a shadow box from my daughter with the shells. It also had the verse of Isaiah 40:31: ‘They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up on wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary, walk and not faint.’ And that shadow box has become my memorial stone.”

Doug now acts as a peer mentor, counseling and encouraging others who have suffered strokes. He and Patti give all the credit to God for his survival and miraculous recovery.

“I'm very grateful to God after everything we went through,” Patti said. “I thank Him all the time for giving us more time together. It's very satisfying and it's very peaceful knowing that He has always had our backs and that he is in our life permanently.”

“Still brings me to tears,” Doug said. “Everybody gathered and were praying, it was an unbelievable effort to save me and heal me. It's all God, it's not me, and it's all for His glory. Prayer is powerful, and I am a living testimonial to the healing power of God."

7-year-old Jose was born with a condition called cryptorchidism (an undescended testicle). It can cause severe pain in the lower abdomen.    

“One day I was playing with my cars and I felt a pain in my stomach,”Jose told us. “I told mom, ‘This lump is hurting me.’ And she said, ‘What lump?’ I said, ‘This one’ and showed her my stomach.”  

Jose said when the pain happened at night, it was even worse. “At night I felt really sharp pains. It hurt so bad I thought I was going to die. I told my mom if I die, I am going to miss her."

“Maybe I would have died of sadness too,” said Guadalupe, his mom.  

Jose lives in a remote community in Mexico. His parents finally saved enough to take him to a clinic. There a doctor told them Jose needed surgery. Without it, he said the condition could eventually lead to cancer. “I started crying,” said Guadalupe. “I have seen many mothers whose children have died and they suffer a lot so I can imagine the pain of a mother losing her child.”  

Then Operation Blessing arranged for Jose and his mom to travel to the hospital, where we paid for the boy to receive free surgery. The surgery was a success and Jose was quickly running and playing without fear—and without pain. 

“I'm happy because I can do anything!” declared a happy Jose. “My stomach does not hurt any more. Thank you for helping me with the operation!”

“Thank you very much to the people who support Operation Blessing,” added Guadalupe.  
 
 

YOU GET WHAT YOU NEED

Travis Greene is a well-known recording artist who has toured around the country, leading others in praise and worship before God. He never dreamed he would someday lead a church. However, in 2015, he felt the Lord calling him to start a church. When he called his wife, Jackie, she confirmed that it was from God. After praying and asking God where to go, they felt called to move to Columbia, South Carolina to start Forward City Church together. The first two years were great—large crowds came, people were getting saved, and everyone was excited until Pastor Travis wanted to change things up. 

He explains, “I didn’t want to do the same things. I’ve always considered myself to be a man of excellence, where good isn’t good enough. I had huge goals for our church. I’ve learned that if you’re not moving forward, you’re falling behind. If you’re not innovating, you’re stagnating.” Not everyone agreed with him. Many felt that good was good enough and some people left the church. “That season was hard, brutally hard,” Travis admits. Refusing to give up, he and Jackie kept moving forward as a team. During the same time, Travis visited a pastor friend with a large church and thriving ministry. As he drove Pastor Travis around the campus, Travis found himself being happy for his friend but angry with God. He didn’t understand why this pastor had everything while he was struggling to keep his head above water. “This ain’t cool, man,” he silently told God. “I never asked to pastor a church! I never asked to move to South Carolina! I’m working my butt off, and I have no money, no new building, no joy!"

In that moment, he felt God ask him what he would do if he gave Travis a million dollars. Travis responded, “Probably build something.” As the silent conversation continued between him and God, Travis knew that even though he prayed for more money, a bigger building, and more people, he wasn’t prepared for it yet. “And just like that, I understood. I was praying for the wrong thing! I was praying for stuff when I should have been praying for the strategy to lead. I wanted miracles but I should have been asking God to help me manage what I’ve already been given,” he explains.

The paradigm shift in his thinking that day changed everything! He went back to Forward City Church, focusing on maximizing what they already had. “When we stopped focusing on what we thought God needed to do for us and instead focused on what we needed to do for God…Doors started opening.” 

Today, they have purchased and are settling into a forty-four-thousand-square-foot facility that was a former Best Buy store. Forward City Church is growing and continues to help the unchurched and overchurched move forward in their relationship with Jesus.
 
NOT SURE WHAT TO PRAY FOR?

Pastor Travis understands that talking to God can sometimes feel overwhelming. We may ask ourselves where to start or what to ask for. Pastor Travis says we should pray about our day and for His plan for the season we are in. He explains, “That dual prayer—to pray for the day and pray for the season—is important for everybody. We need to talk to God about the day and about the year. And really, we should be talking to Him about everything.” 
In addition, Pastor Greene offers the following practical tips for prayer:
    •    Examine your prayers - Consider whether you are praying for things that are aligned with God's will and purpose, or if you are treating God like a "genie in a bottle" and praying for things that are not in line with His plans.  
    •    Be willing to wait and work as God allows - Be patient and faithful as you wait for God to answer your prayers, rather than becoming frustrated when things don't happen on your timeline. Be willing to put in the work as God directs.  
    •    Believe in God's miracles while being a faithful steward - Maintain faith in God's ability to perform miracles, while also being good stewards of what He has already provided.  
    •    Navigate beyond feeling trapped to thriving in God's purposes - Instead of feeling stuck or trapped if your prayers aren't answered as expected, focus on thriving within God's purposes for your life.  
    •    Learn to use what's left instead of focusing on what was lost – Shift your mindset to make the most of the resources and circumstances you currently have, rather than dwelling on what was lost or not received. 
 
SINGER/SONGWRITER

Greene’s latest CD, “Strike the Ground” features 12 songs and a variety of artists. Greene is known for incorporating several different genres into his sound. Following his emergence in 2007, he gained notoriety by topping the Billboard gospel chart with 2015's The Hill. The album spawned several Grammy-nominated hits, including "Intentional" and "Made a Way," the latter of which stayed at number one on the Hot Gospel Songs chart for 13 weeks. After taking home seven Stellar Gospel Awards, Greene earned another Grammy nod for "See the Light" for 2017's Crossover: Live from Music City. He picked up a fifth Grammy nomination for "Won't Let Go" from 2019's Broken Record before returning in 2021 with Oil + Water. Both collaborations with Forward City [Tent Revival and Strike the Ground] appeared in 2022 and 2023. 

To learn more about Forward City Church, please visit: www.ForwardCity.tv. To purchase Travis' book, "Are You Praying for the Wrong Thing?" please visit: www.TravisGreene.tv.