Worshiping with Wounds:  Restorative Suffering
Philippians 3:10-11
10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

​The Practice:
Suffering is an invitation to...

• Choose
• Follow
• Heal
• Comfort
• Hope

Adjust your view of suffering as an invitation to these things. 

Worshiping with Wounds:  Suffering as Opportunity
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are[a] being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

The Practice:

• Prayerfully Reflect: Lord, is there anything in my life You are using suffering to shift my focus away from? Help me let go of lesser things and re-center on what matters most. 2 Corinthians 4:8-11
• Prayerfully Reflect: Father, what areas of my faith are being tested right now? How do You want to strengthen and purify my trust in You through this season? James 1:2-4, 1 Peter 1:6-7
• Prayerfully Reflect:  Jesus, what would it look like to embrace joy and hope today, even in hardship? Help me fix my eyes on the unseen and anchor my soul in Your promises. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
• Prayerfully Reflect: Holy Spirit, how are You trying to show me Your power or presence right now? Help me open my heart to You and walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 4:14-15​

Worshiping with Wounds:  The God Who Suffers
Luke 24:39a
39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

The Practice:
1- Call to mind a current experience of suffering you are facing.
2- Identify 1-2 emotions you are experiencing in the midst of that suffering
3- Ask God to show you, by His Word and Spirit, a time where He either:
(i)  Experienced similar dynamics
(ii) Experienced similar emotions
4- Allow yourself in your heart to go where the Lord leads you. Not seeking to get Him to remove the suffering, but simply connecting your heart to His.

Worshiping with Wounds:  The Now, Not Yet
Romans 8:18-23
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

The Practice:
Pray for miracles & wonders! Pray for healing with faith & in Jesus’ name, Because miraculous healing is a sign of the coming Kingdom. Above all things, endure. Endure faithfully & patiently in the power of the Spirit, who is the deposit of the glory that’s to come, because suffering with faithful endurance is also a sign of the coming Kingdom.