A prayer for when you're going through a storm
Lord, it feels silly to pray at a time like
this!
It feels like at a time like this prayer
should take the form of action, not mere words.
Prayer is opening the doors of my home,
making sandwiches for the hungry, holding down the roof on a house so the dust and
rain can’t get in.
Right now, all I have is words, so let that
be enough, but keep my heart soft and open to any actions I need to live.
Thank you for your promises that when we
face stormy seas you will be there with us with endurance and
calm; we will not be engulfed in raging rivers.
If it seems like we’re walking
through fire with flames licking at our limbs, we can keep going; Because
You, the Eternal One, are our God. You are the Holy One of Israel, and You will
save us.
I sometimes read your promises (like the
one above) and I think, ‘Really God? Tell that to the people who just lost a
loved one or whose house just burnt down.’ Help me in my unbelief. Show me your
hand in this storm even when all I can see is destruction and suffering.
There are men, women and children affected
by the fires and storms raging right now. Lord, I ask that they would know your
presence that they can hold on to you while everything else they have is being
ripped away.
You know I don’t understand why bad things
happen. You know it makes me angry and sad.
I’m reminded at times like this that you
are much bigger than me, much greater than my understanding. You are likened to
a consuming fire, a whirlwind. And I need to trust that your ways are not mine
and that you can bring beauty out of ashes.
Jesus, we ask that the wind would calm. I
think of you standing on a boat in the middle of raging storm and rebuking the
wind. Your voice calmed the wind.
Could you speak to the wind now? Will you calm the storm?
Could you speak to the wind now? Will you calm the storm?
Speak, Lord Jesus, speak.
Open the skies and let the rain fall.
Come, Lord Jesus, come.
_________
I wrote this prayer this morning specifically with the people of Knysna, South Africa in mind. If you want to follow the story here are some live updates. However, I know that there are storms and fires (real and figurative) that people across the world deal with every day. If you're going through one now I hope that this prayer will help you.
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