A Prayer for When Jesus Seems Asleep - Your Daily Prayer - July 27
A Prayer for When Jesus Seems Asleep
By Kyle Norman
Bible Reading:
“A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was swamped. Jesus was in the stern sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said, “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?” - Mark 4:37-38
Listen or Read Below:
I love storms. I love the sound they bring, and the smell of the rain as it falls all around me. I find storms wonderful, inspiring, awesome, even beautiful at times. Well, that is, when I view them from the safety of my covered deck. Let’s be clear, storms can be wonderful when you sit safely on a covered veranda. But it’s another thing altogether when you are caught in the thick of it.
We read about this very thing in scripture. The disciples find themselves caught in a storm on Lake Gennesaret. As winds howl and waves crash into the sides of the boat, Jesus appears unaffected by it all, sleeping in the front of the boat. Think of it, Jesus snoozes as they struggle; he dreams while they despair. And so, at some point, they wake Jesus and ask, “Jesus... do you not care?”
Have you ever asked such a question? Do you ever feel that Jesus is silent, maybe even asleep amid all that you face? Are you feeling that way today?
We can easily misconstrue the storms of life as some sort of divine punishment. Life turns ugly, and we see that as a testimony to God’s displeasure over us; We believe that we’ve done something to anger God. But the gospel account is clear: Jesus doesn’t bring about the storm upon the disciples. He doesn’t cause misfortune to happen. Storms simply come. It’s part of living in an imperfect world filled with imperfect people. Yes, storms can be hard to experience and exhausting to fight against, but they do not testify to the Lord’s displeasure over us.
In fact, amid the storms of life, Jesus is present. This is the fundamental truth of the scriptures – so simple that it is easy to miss. Jesus is in the boat. He isn’t far away on some celestial cloud of ease and comfort; Jesus feels the wind and the rain. And true, while he does not stop the storm from coming upon the disciples, he does remain in the storm-riddled boat, right along with them.
Ultimately, Jesus is asleep, not because he is unconcerned about the disciples, but because he is unconcerned with the storm. Jesus knows that there is no wind strong enough to blow them off course, and no wave big enough to drown away his presence.
In the scriptures, when Jesus is awakened, he quiets the wind and the waves. But he does so not to prove that he can make the storm go away, but to show that we can trust his presence when the storm seems to remain. Because frankly, even asleep, Jesus is mightier than any storm we face.
When the storms of life arise, we are given the opportunity to reach out to the Lord, to grasp onto his presence as our lifeline. Waves may crash and winds may howl, and such things can be hard to experience. But somewhere, amid it all, is the presence of the Lord.
Amid the storms of life, we have a choice as to what we focus on. We can focus on the wind and the waves, and the furious squall erupting around us, or we can keep our focus upon the savior who remains with us. We can dare to believe that Jesus is in the boat, even if we can’t see where he is or what he is doing.
Let’s Pray:
Lord Jesus Christ,
I trust in your presence and power. I trust in your unfailing love that surrounds me amid all of life’s storms. But like the disciples caught in the storm, or like Peter focusing on the waves instead of your presence, the storms of life can cause me to be afraid. Fear rises within me. And in those moments, I can be tempted to doubt whether you are with me. In those doubts, I ask whether you really care about me, whether you truly see what occurs in my life, whether you even notice my struggle. But Lord, I know you are the one who always cares; you always see me, and you join me in my struggle. When I am tempted to fear, Lord, place in me the resolve to focus on your unyielding presence. When I am tempted to doubt, help me to reach out to you in trust. When I am tempted to see you sleeping amid my storm, help me to see this as a call to rest in your power. You alone bring peace and calm into my life. You alone give me the strength to wade through whatever storms of life I face. And so, Lord, I place all my fears, all my anxiety, and all my questions into your hands. I pray all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord, Amen.
Image Credit: AI-generated with OpenAI’s DALL·E, edited by Crosswalk.com, July 2025
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