Prayer To Trust God Even In Times of Disaster

Yesterday we were looking at some verses from Psalm 62 and going phrase by phrase to really let the richness of those words be written on our hearts. 

I want to continue with those verses.  It’s almost like we got our hearts ready for God.  The next phrases really invite the presence and work of God to fill every nook and cranny of our being.

Let’s read the verses again and then continue to pray with them.

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.  Psalm 62:5-8

So we looked at “Let all that I am” and reminded ourselves that we need to give everything in us and around us to God, trusting that God cares about the details.

Then we reminded ourselves that it is good to “wait quietly” and asked for God’s help because we’re not so good at waiting and to wait with peaceful minds and hearts is ever harder.

We encouraged our hearts to remember that we are waiting “before God” so we didn’t panic about our own inability and weaknesses.  It’s God’s strength that gives us hope.  And we concluded where I’d like us to begin today, affirming “You ALONE are our rock and our salvation, our fortress where we will not be shaken.”

Let’s pray:

Loving God, You haven’t changed since yesterday.  You alone still are our rock and our salvation, our fortress where we will not be shaken. 

We hear of earthquakes in Croatia and rock slides in Norway and see how massively things change and lives get turned upside down when just one little place on the edge of one little town.  We pray for the family members who have lost loved ones in each of these tragic events.  Come close to them and comfort them we pray.  During this time when it seems like places of refuge are non-existent, you are the one safe fortress where we can come and be safe.  Your comfort, the meaning You give to live beyond this life, Your watch care over all of us in the middle of tragedy – these are all places of safe refuge that hold us steady when our whole world is shaking around us.

My victory and honor come from God alone

In these kinds of situations all kinds of people blame You God and wonder why You couldn’t do something to stop this kind of tragic loss.

Lord, we remember that when others mocked Jesus as He was hanging on the cross, dying for their very sins, You had Him stay there to the very end – beyond the end even – because He died.  You see purposes way beyond what we are able to see today. 

O MY PEOPLE, TRUST IN HIM AT ALL TIMES.

As the resurrection of Jesus showed victory and honor that we all couldn’t see at the cross, so we pray for faith to trust Your heart and Your plan as we view tragedies such as these.  Steady us and keep us seeking truth beyond our own knowledge, truth that rests with You.  You know all about the past, present, and future and are always working on our behalf.  Help us to trust that You are working for good even in the what seems like the worst of situations. 

POUR OUT YOUR HEART TO HIM, FOR GOD IS OUR REFUGE. 

Help us to run to you in our shock and grief and sorrow and find in You safe refuge.  No one has a listening ear like You do.  You’ve promised to comfort us and to journey with us so we don’t have to face anything on our own.  You even promise us that one day we will find joy again.  This world is so transitory and life is so fragile but because of Your amazing gift of the Lord Jesus, we have the hope of eternal life with You in joy and peace forever.

We will live this one day.  We acknowledge our limited understanding of the big questions in life but that You, our Creator, in love give us every bit of information that is useful for this day and all the strength and support we could hope for.  We will do this day with You.  The familiar words come to mind and we reaffirm them now in Your presence:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6