A Prayer for Quiet Trust in God - Your Daily Prayer - October 5
A Prayer for Quiet Trust in God
By: Whitney Hopler
Bible Reading
“This is what the Lord says to me: ‘I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.’” - Isaiah 18:4, NIV
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Long summer days can be both wonderful and exhausting. Gardens are growing, and farm fields are nearing harvest time. Golden sunlight fills many days and is beautiful to look at – especially on summer afternoons. But summer can also be a quiet time that makes you feel like slowing down. The sun appears high in the sky, and the hot air can seem to shimmer in the distance. Some afternoons feel almost still under the sun’s steady light and the constant heat.
Isaiah 18:4 describes God’s presence in ways that evoke summer days. In the verse, the Lord says he will “remain quiet” and watch from his dwelling place, “like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.” That peaceful imagery compares God’s watchful presence to the gentle stillness of a hot summer day and the refreshment of morning dew during harvest season.
It’s easy to notice God’s presence with you when he’s doing something dramatic in your life. But God’s presence is most often steady and quiet, like warm sunshine resting over the land on a summer day. God is still watching you and caring for you in the background, even when you aren’t aware of his work.
Learning to trust God’s quiet presence can be challenging. If you want immediate answers and quick solutions. You want clear signs that God is working and quick answers to your prayers – but you don’t get what you’re hoping for when you want it – doubt and worry can creep into your mind. When you’re wondering where God is or concerned that your prayers aren’t working, you have to make a choice to have faith and trust God even when you can’t sense his presence.
The words in Isaiah 18:4 encourage you that God is still active even though he's quiet. Just as the heat of summer quietly helps crops grow, God’s work often happens in ways that are powerful but quiet. The prayers you prayed weeks or months ago are like seeds planted in the ground. God hasn’t forgotten about them; he just has the best timing in mind to answer those prayers. Seeds planted earlier in the year begin to break through the soil surface during the summer. Growth that once seemed invisible gradually becomes visible as harvest time gets closer. God’s work in your life happens that way, too. Even when you can’t immediately see what he’s doing, God watches over your life with wonderful care.
Summer can remind you of that. On a hot summer afternoon, when sunlight looks like it’s shimmering in the distance and the world feels calm, you can remember that God’s presence is peaceful and steady. God is watching over you carefully, even when you’re not aware of what he’s doing beneath the surface of your life.
Quiet seasons in your life can strengthen your faith. They can teach you to trust God not only when something exciting or dramatic is happening for you, but also during ordinary days. They remind you that God is doing something wonderful in your life every single day. God’s plans for you aren’t rushed. Just like crops grow slowly and steadily – according to God’s design for what’s best for them – God will reveal his plans for you when the time is right for what’s ultimately best.
Long summer days can inspire you to trust that God is still present with you, watching you carefully, and working for good purposes in your life. While learning to trust quietly takes time, you can grow more trust as you continue bringing your concerns to God in prayer, even when you don’t get answers right away. You can also develop more quiet trust in your life by waiting with hope when you need to wait for God’s timing.
The same God who watches over the whole world is also watching over your life. God’s quiet care surrounds you like warm sunlight in summer!
Let’s Pray
Dear God, thank you for the quiet reminders of your presence that appear throughout the year's seasons. During these sunny summer days, when the world around me feels still, help me remember that you’re always watching over my life. Sometimes I struggle to trust you when your answers to my prayers seem slow, or when I’m facing a lot of stress and uncertainty in my circumstances. Please teach me how to rest in your quiet faithfulness. Just like the summer sun slowly helps crops grow so they can be harvested, help me believe that you’re patiently working for good purposes in my life – even then, I can’t see what you’re doing. Please give me the peace that comes from trusting you and your timing. Help me be calm and confident in your care. I want to walk through every season of my life with steady faith in you. Thank you, God. Amen.
Discuss today’s devotional with others in the Your Daily Prayer thread on the Crosswalk Forum.
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