God always tests you before he blesses you.

Sometimes his tests come through people who ask you to do something impossible, like a boss who gives you a project with an unreasonable deadline.

When this happens, first you refuse to panic so you can focus on getting more information, and then you ask for more time.

Next, you enlist prayer support from your friends.

The Bible says, “Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. He urged them to ask the God of heaven to show them his mercy by telling them the secret, so they would not be executed along with the other wise men of Babylon” (Daniel 2:17-18 NLT).

Daniel realized this was a big request. The kingdom hung in the balance. The king wasn’t thinking clearly. He was about to kill everyone on his court! So Daniel got his prayer team going.

Do you have prayer partners—people who will show up for you in a crisis and go to God on your behalf and to advance God’s kingdom? Problems in life are inevitable, and so are crises. You’re going to face impossible situations. You’re going to have dark days. You’re going to get the phone call that changes the direction of your life. And when that happens, you’re going to need people to stand beside you and ask God to move.

You don’t need a lot of people as part of your prayer team. But you do need four or five friends who will pray with you in times just like these.

Daniel didn’t have to think about who to call when his life, and the lives of many others, were on the line. He already had in place the kind of relationships that he could call on in a crisis.

If you don’t have those people in your life right now, they’re not going to suddenly appear when you need them most! You have to be proactive now about making connections and investing in relationships that will help you and give you the opportunity to help others.

When you’re in trouble, who are you going to call?