Jesus, help me realize that I am facing a life-class that is giving me an opportunity to learn how to win at life. Help me to be so excited about this opportunity that I consider it pure joy, whenever I face trials of many kinds, help me know that the testing of my faith develops perseverance. Then help me understand that perseverance must finish its work so that I may be mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:2-4).

Jesus, most of the time I see my problems and issues as being things that are trying to hurt or destroy me. They cause me to feel weak, defeated, and like a failure. Help me understand that others have had these same types of problems; and, You made them their strengths. You helped them look at them as life-classes; they were used to teach them how to win over life’s issues. You helped them use the breakthroughs they got through winning over life’s issues to help others. Help me see the challenges in my life as life-classes; use them to teach me how to win.

Jesus, I thank You for helping people work very hard to provide these things for me. They do it because they remember how much these things hurt them. You used that memory of pain to build a lot of love, compassion, and understanding in them. Since You helped them see these issues and problems as life-classes, they allowed You to teach them incredible principles through these challenges. Help me be able to turn all my suffering and failure into a motivation and a training that I will be able to share with others.

Jesus, teach me that those things that currently look like they are taking me down, You are able to use to help me learn how to win over and defeat. Show me that power from God will pour into me and make me able to beat things that looked like they were beating me. Help me see that the reason I can know this is true is because it has happened to others. You used their situations of life to help them practice on; and, you did it so they could learn powerful spiritual principles. Teach me that once I stop seeing myself as a victim, I will be able to become a victor.

Jesus, in the past, I hoped bad things wouldn’t happen to me; because, if it did, I only knew how to try to weather the storm. I didn’t know that I had been empowered to HANDLE the storm. I now have a confidence and esteem that came out of a battle that I was able to win. You are empowering me to move from great weakness, pain, defeat, sorrow, and doubt, into a power and victory I NEVER thought possible. I have been in conditions that seemed to make it impossible for me to be able to do anything about them; but, I was wrong! You are teaching me how to take the impossible and make it possible.

Jesus, there have been times when I didn’t see any hope for being able to be helped; but, You started speaking to my damaged heart and causing it to hope again, believe again, try again, and look to the future again. It isn’t easy; I have to reach out at a time when I don’t feel like doing anything. It looks like the condition is going to be my way of life for the rest of my life.

Jesus, help me see that You are offering me a system that helps me open my heart and pour out all the pain, failure, weakness, and doubt. Show me that You allow me to tell You all about what I am going through. You are willing to enter into a communication with me that not only listens and sympathizes with me, You will start giving me ideas, feelings, and power to get help with all that pain, failure, weakness, and doubt.

Jesus, teach me that this process called prayer is the spiritual procedure that God provided for me; it is the procedure that has given me all the results I have so far. It was and is the way for me to open my heart and tell God all about how I feet, what I think, and what I would like to have happen to me. It is so powerful that it will gradually heal every area of my heart; and, it has already started to bring great events into my life.

Jesus, I tried to get this type of healing by talking to my friends, counselors, or thinking it through in my mind. However, teach me that none of these methods are as powerful and effective as prayer. You are going to be offering me some prayer examples for me to use to talk to my heavenly Father with. Help me understand that they are prayers God handpicked from David and other great people of prayer to put in His Bible.

Jesus, use God’s prayer examples to help me see HOW to pray and WHAT to pray to my heavenly Father. Use the Book of James as my guide for selecting these prayers. Help me understand that James was trained by You personally; he was used by God to write the Book of James in the Bible; and, he is a great teacher who yielded to the powerful influence of the Holy Spirit. Give me a total respect for this Book as being You speaking through him.