Everyone needs help at one time or another, and as followers of Christ, we are called to walk alongside those who are hurting. On this edition of Connecting Faith, noted counselor and author Ed Welch joins us with practical wisdom for living life together and loving others well. We learn to develop our ‘helping skills’ as we discuss Ed’s new book  .

Why is it so hard to ask for help? We go behind the cultural history that lies behind our reticence. We can often view ourselves as “not one of those people” who needs help. Yet our faith itself is born of acknowledging our need for help. Christianity is about saying, “Jesus, I need you.”

We’re sometimes slow to pray, perhaps believing that God has better things to do than listen to our problems and our cries for help. Looking at the Psalms shows us poignantly that He cares deeply about communicating with us, and that He’s there to listen to what’s on our hearts.

“The Lord never minimizes the experiences and pain that we feel…. Our struggles are an opportunity to know Him better.”

We may feel that we’re fairly ordinary, and we might not have a lot to offer someone who is going through a difficult time. But God is in the business of using “ordinary” people to do extraordinary help.

“The best helpers are humble helpers who know their own weaknesses and their own sins.”

Is there something to the concept of “neediness”? Can we go to far in continually attempting to seek assistance? Ed speaks to “chronic neediness”.

We also explore the importance of praying for others as we assist them in other ways.

You can read more from Ed here at CCEF’s website.

Key scriptures: Philippians 4; Hebrews 12; Romans 8:28; 2 Corinthians 4

Highlight: The race

The benefit of helping others