« Evensong in London | Home | Loving Language »
Sunday Inspiration from Pray the Gospels
By Mark D. Roberts | Sunday, July 29, 2007
Excerpt
He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”
Mark 4:40
Click here to read all of Mark 4:35-41
Prayer
Dear Lord, thank You for this passage from Mark. I need it today. You know that. Like Your disciples, I have experienced Your power in so many, many ways. And, like Your disciples, I can become afraid, as if somehow You had forgotten about me or Your power was inadequate to overcome my problems. I know this is silly, and, more than silly, faithless. Forgive me, Lord, for doubting You.
Help me, I pray, to trust You at all times, even and especially when I’m facing challenges too big for me. Help me to turn to You again and again, to pray without ceasing, and to receive the peace that You alone can give. May I remember Your faithfulness, Your awesomeness, Your majesty. May I place my life in Your hands each day, knowing that You hold me and will not let me fall.
Questions to Ponder
Are there times when you are like the disciples? Times when you feel afraid, as if God weren’t there to help? What do you do in these times?
What helps you to trust God? How might you trust Him even more this day?
Storm on the Sea of Galilee, by Rembrandt, 1633
Topics: Sunday Inspiration |
3 Responses to “Sunday Inspiration from Pray the Gospels”
Comments
Thanks for your willingness to make a comment. Note: I do not moderate comments before they are posted, though they are automatically screened for profanities, spam, etc., and sometimes the screening program holds comments for moderation even though they're not offensive. I encourage open dialogue and serious disagreement, and am always willing to learn from my mistakes. I will not delete comments unless they are extraordinarily rude or irrelevant to the topic at hand. You do need to login in order to make a comment, because this cuts down on spam. You are free to use a nickname if you wish. Finally, I will eventually read all comments, but I don't have the time to respond to them on a consistent basis because I've got a few other demands on my time, like my "day job," my family, sleep, etc.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
July 29th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Sometimes I feel like Jesus was a little too hard on the disciples. Well, maybe he wasn’t too hard on them, but I know I would have been there with them and received this rebuke right along with them. I have yelled out for help several times only to feel Jesus’ quizzical look at me as if to say, “What is your problem?
I worked a job once where every month was an exercise in faith just to make payroll. Every month God would come through in a new and unique way, and then I would be right there the next month questioning whether or not he was going to come through again.
I would like to say I am better now, but if I am it is only marginally.
Thanks for sharing this.
August 2nd, 2007 at 11:40 am
yea, there was a time in my life when i was trying to break out into “full time” ministry. i had several job interviews. inquiries and every time i got my hopes up it would fall through. i felt as if god had abandoned me… i felt as if god were mad at me for something i had done in my past. well, what i did to get through that was just hang on. i hung on to jesus and yelled at god a lot and thankfully god is merciful and understands when we yell at him because we don’t know any better.
so, eventually i was blessed to be shown that if any of those other jobs had gone through i would have been jobless in just a few months due to conflicts and/or a head pastor leaving.
this struggle went on for about 2 years and now i am much, much better at trusting god and understanding that when i feel like it is god who has abandoned me it is really me not trusting god and being impatient with god and nothing to do with how god is toward me. blessings.
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:40 pm
yeah, just the other night in prayer i cried i was scared. i wish that I had read that verse that day.
we had just gotten word that one of our small group leader’s recent MRI showed a dark spot at the top of her spine.
she and her husband were out of town and they faithfully shared the results via e-mail so the small group could be undated and they asked for prayer. they especially asked that we pray they are a witness to others in this time. we prayed.
thankfully, i was able to remember to praise God for His goodness and mercy.
i really do know better. God’s grace is amazing and His will has been and always will be perfect. God has been faithful, and merciful for all time. thank you, Abba.
I pray that same prayer you prayed now.
Thank you