If First You Don't Succeed... Try Again
“When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.”
What would you ask for if you knew that the answer would be yes? What would you be willing to try again if you knew it would work this time?
Friend, I am here to tell you today that God is saying TRY AGAIN.
In the past few weeks, I have seen God answer some of my long standing prayers, and while my heart has been filled with so much joy and gratitude; I have noticed a pattern. In all of these situations there was one commonality; I had to be willing to try again. I had to be willing to put forth effort in areas where I had previously failed or had experienced disappointment.
There is a beautiful story in the the Bible in the book of Luke where Peter, (one of Jesus’ disciples) was fishing with a few of his coworkers. Unfortunately, after a long night at sea they had nothing to show for their efforts. As they packed up their equipment, Jesus appeared and told them to lower their nets and try again. Bear in mind, Peter and his fellow fishermen had toiled all night and hadn’t caught a single fish. It is easy to imagine that by this point they were exhausted, frustrated and ready to give up.
In response, Peter acknowledged that their previous efforts had not proven to be fruitful. In other words, He was real with Jesus about what he had experienced before! The truth is failure and disappointment can cause us to be reluctant to try again. Nevertheless, at Jesus’ Word Peter was willing to make another attempt. Like Peter, we must be willing to do the same. It does not matter how many times we’ve tried before, or whether or not we’ve experienced past failures.
It’s time to try again because when God’s power is combined with our efforts it is a platform for miracles to come to life.
In my own instances, there were moments when my voice shook as I prayed the prayer for the millionth time, or made the same request to the same person again. I didn’t always ask confidently and that was largely due to the fact that I had previously received a, “no”, or “not yet” in these areas. However, although I lacked confidence, by the grace of God, I mustered up the courage, extreme faith, and trust that if God said it, He would be invested in seeing it come to pass.
I think its important that you know the way Peter’s story ended; he caught so much fish that his nets broke! Beloved, today I am encouraging you to ask again. Believe again. Trust again. Hope again. Try again. Let your net down again. This time, with God’s Word in tow, you will succeed.
“I am the Lord;
in it’s time I will do this swiftly.”- Isaiah 60:22
Prayer of Salvation
"If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
- Romans 10:9 NIV
Today, God is asking you to return to Him and promising that he will accept you wholeheartedly. If you fit into this category, then I invite you to pray the prayer of salvation below. It is a verbal compassion that you believe Jesus is the son of God and you are asking him to wash away your sins and accept you into his kingdom, it is the acknowledgment that from this moment that you desire God to lead your life. Simply believe in your heart as you read this prayer aloud.
Heavenly Father, I acknowledge that I am a sinner, and I need a savior. I’m asking You to forgive me of my sins. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe He lived, died, and was resurrected to life. I believe that You are the only God and the only way to eternal life. Today, I’m asking You to enter my heart, change my life and lead me by the power of Your Holy Spirit, from this day forward. I need you in Jesus name. Amen.
If you’ve pray this prayer for the very first time, welcome to the kingdom of heaven! The Bible says that the angels rejoice every time someone gives their heart to God. So just imagine the party in heaven, taking place on your behalf!
