A Prayer for the Night Before Change - Your Nightly Prayer - August 29
A Prayer for the Night Before Change
TONIGHT’S SCRIPTURE
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. Isaiah 43:2
SOMETHING TO PONDER
The book of Isaiah is filled with hard realities for God’s people. In the beginning of the book, they are described as “deaf and blind,” refusing to repent of their sin. The prophet Isaiah spends the first 39 chapters pronouncing God’s judgment unless they turn from their wicked ways. However, the last 27 chapters are filled with God’s consolation, revealing the heart of the Father toward His people. In fact, the first words in chapter 40 - the hinge point of Isaiah - are, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.”
As we prepare to close the book on another month, maybe you’re looking back over the past year and longing for God’s comfort. Soon we’ll enter September, and if you’re honest with yourself and with God, you thought things would look different by now. Maybe you’ve spent months passing through deep waters or walking through the fire, but you’re not on the other side quite yet.
I’ve found in my walk with God that the in-between seasons are some of the hardest. It feels like you’re in a wrestling match between submitting to His will and trusting His character - learning to be like Paul, content in every circumstance, while also asking for more faith like the disciples did in Luke 17. After all, God could change everything in a split second, and yet sometimes He doesn’t.
In tonight’s scripture, He doesn’t say if we pass through the waters or walk through the fire, but when. We will face trials. However, there are five words in this verse that change everything: “I will be with you.” This year, I’ve begun to notice how often the words “with you” appear throughout scripture. I circle those two words every time I find them, and here they are again.
One of the greatest examples in the Bible of God being with His people during a trial is found in the book of Daniel. Three young Hebrew men refuse to bow to the king’s golden statue and are thrown into a blazing furnace. As the king looked into the fire, he noticed something remarkable in Daniel 3:25:
“Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
God was with them in the fire! The king commanded the young men to come out, and then he uttered these God-honoring words:
“Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel, and delivered his servant who trusted in him…”
God was with them. He saved them. He delivered them from the blazing furnace.
In Isaiah 43:3, the verse following tonight’s scripture, God reminds His people:
“For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”
If you’re in an in-between season right now, surrounded by deep waters or fire, remember that God may not answer your prayer by plucking you from your uncertain circumstances, but by meeting you in them. The greater answer will always be His presence.
YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER
Father, I thank You that no matter what I go through in this life, You promise to be with me! I confess that I often want You to immediately deliver me from hard situations. Grow me to be like Jesus, who said in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Yet not what I will, but what You will.” Help me to trust that in the midst of uncertainty, You have a plan. And according to Romans 8:28, that plan is good. In Jesus’ name, amen.
THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON
Are the difficult and uncertain areas of your life drawing you closer to God, or are you trying to endure them on your own? While God doesn’t cause pain and suffering, He does use them to invite us into deeper fellowship with Him.
Deuteronomy 31:8 reminds us that God is not just with us, but He also goes before us. You may feel uncertain about the future, but rest tonight in the truth that He is already there.
While you wait with God in the deep waters and fire, how can you bless Him even now? Psalm 34:1 says, "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth."
Reflect on tonight’s prayer and share how God met you there. Join the Your Nightly Prayer discussion on the Crosswalk Forum.
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Mike_Pellinni
Related Resource: Praying Through Psalm 68: When God is Bigger Than Your Problems!
What happens when the giants you are facing—whether overwhelmingly massive or seemingly insignificant—trick you into believing God doesn't care about your daily struggles?
Join Jaime on the Praying Christian Women Podcast for an inspiring devotional on Psalm 68, a triumphant and powerful psalm that celebrates the unmatched bigness of God and reminds us that no earthly enemy or obstacle stands a chance against Him. If this episode helps you connect with God through prayer, be sure to follow Praying Christian Women on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
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