A Prayer for Holy Endurance in a Hustle Culture
By: Chelsey DeMatteis
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…” - Hebrews 12:1
Hebrews 12 has been a favorite part of Scripture for me since I gave my life to Christ. I loved that it invited me into what God wanted to do in and through my life. It was truth from God’s Word that pierced my heart. It helped me to better understand why He disciplines His children. Isn’t that a beautiful thing? God’s Word walks us through what we need to better understand His heart and to equip us for what we’ll face in this world.
A few years into my life as a Christian, the “self-help” culture began invading the walls of Christianity. This message of hustle and self-help became intoxicating and somehow caught like wildfire with women in the church. I wrestled with this deeply. I saw it as a message that quickly diminished the gospel and elevated oneself.
To my brothers and sisters in Christ, the message of “self-help” is hopeless and filled with a lie. It wants you to believe that you can be the hero of your own story. But if you’re like me… you know there’s no truth in that.
The amount of times I’ve tried to self-help my way out of a problem and landed in anguish is a great indicator of why we were never meant to be the hero, and why we never will be.
You see, there is something so beautifully tucked in this passage of Hebrews that often gets looked over. It will never be talked about within the walls of the hustle culture. Verse 10 begins with talking about discipline from a parent perspective, but then reveals to us that discipline from God is an invitation to His holiness:
“For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.”
He wants to share His holiness with you and me. Our perfect God wants you and me to experience the goodness of His heart and we won't even begin to scratch the surface if we fall prey to other messages that are built completely apart from The Word of God.
What do we need to stand firm against the competing messages of the surrounding culture? We need Holy Endurance.
Holy Endurance is an endurance set in God’s strength, not our own. Within this endurance, we’re called to accountability and obedience to what God asks of us. It flips the message of “me” on its head and shows us why need less of who we are and more of who God is. Hebrews 12:15 reminds us why we need to cling to endurance in Christ and not the frailty of man. “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.” We see here that as followers of Christ we are called and held accountable to see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God. We are called to obey The Lord so that His glory may be revealed and that no root of bitterness will cause trouble.
The world of hustle only hurries hearts; it doesn’t heal or offer grace. The world of hustle is an idol created by man and one we must run from. I pray we take deeply to our hearts the words that finish Hebrews 12:28, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe…” I pray you will join me in living our lives in a posture that doesn’t sidestep experiencing the fullness of God and what He desires for us. I pray that we can discern the patterns in this world that are not from Him and trust His ways of escape from the very things culture uses to take our eyes off of Him.
Pray with me…
Lord, I pray that my endurance would always be set in you. In a culture that constantly tries to hurry and hustle, I pray that we in Christ would choose to show the peace we have in your pace.
Help me have eyes that clearly see the competing messages of our culture, the messages that say you can hustle yourself into peace.
Father, I pray my eyes would always be on you and the desires you have for my life. I pray I would have eyes to clearly see the kingdom of God and know that your kingdom alone cannot be shaken.
May everything I do be to please you first and foremost.
In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Chelsey DeMatteis is a wife, SAHM, devotional writer, and the host of the weekly aired Living With Less podcast, birthed from John 3:30. Chelsey loves serving in her local church ministries, but the greatest ministry she loves to watch unfold is the one that happens in her heart and in her home. You can find more about Chelsey at her website - www.ChelseyDeMatteis.com.
Editor's Note: We're proud to announce we've just launched a new nighttime companion to Your Daily Prayer: the Your Nightly Prayer devotional. You'll soon be able to subscribe to receive Your Nightly Prayer via email, or as a podcast, but for now you can find it on the website at crosswalk.com/devotionals/your-nightly-prayer. We hope it's a relaxing and soothing way to wind down your day with rich meditations on who God is.
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