Quiet Confidence in God's Goodness - Your Nightly Prayer - June 17th

Quiet Confidence in God’s Goodness
Your Nightly Prayer 

TONIGHT’S SCRIPTURE

"Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him." - Psalm 34:8

SOMETHING TO PONDER 

God is good, the Bible tells us. In fact, Jesus says only God is good. We can repeat the words, but that doesn’t mean we have experienced it. Often, we feel like we have to experience something to fully understand it. Is God’s goodness personally real to us or simply a theological statement? 

We often struggle to recognize God’s goodness. Crises arise and constantly vie for our attention. Problems need fixing, or things get worse. Others hurt and wound us. We make our own mistakes and hurt others. These dark days threaten to obscure the higher truth of our good God. Theological statements alone don’t change our hearts. These declarations are important only insofar as they describe a greater reality. Yet words can’t even hope to describe the greater reality. Words are limited. The only way to understand and know God’s goodness is through personal experience and encounter. I can say water is wet. And it might be true. But “water is wet” can’t compare to the experience of jumping in a pool. 

It takes two steps to experience God’s goodness personally. First, we look back on our lives and see the places God has been good to us. We rehearse and remember when and where God has been good to us. This includes his salvation and spiritual blessings, as well as individual blessings in our lives. Second, we start to reframe current struggles as blessings, as well. Just as God sent his Son into a dying world to speak life and shine his light, he places us in situations where we can do the same. In these challenges, he tests and exposes our faith and his grace. While we reframe our challenges, we renew our minds. Further, facing these hardships in faith reminds us that we don’t have the power or ability to change anything. Only God can. We must rest upon the Lord’s grace and goodness, trusting that He acts for our good even when we don’t currently see it in action. 

Taking refuge within our Father, we personally learn how God’s goodness transcends our current situation. How his light shines brighter in the dark. 

YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER 

Heavenly Father,
I declare that you alone are good, and you’re for me. But I ask you to make your goodness real in my life. Open my eyes to remember your faithfulness in the past and see your hand in every season, even where I am now. Teach me to trust you in hardship and reframe my struggles through your grace. Renew my mind and anchor my heart in the truth of your love. Help me rest in you, knowing you work all things for my good and your glory.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen. 

THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON 

1. What are some ways God has shown is goodness to you in the past? Think of both spiritual and situational blessings. 
2. What are some difficult areas you’re dealing with right now? How can you find God’s goodness within the hardship? 
3. How can you take time and take refuge in God through the difficulties?

Reflect on tonight’s prayer and share how God met you there. Join the Your Nightly Prayer discussion on the Crosswalk Forum.
Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/grakozy

Britt Mooney lives and tells great stories. As an author of fiction and non-fiction, he is passionate about teaching ministries and nonprofits the power of storytelling to inspire and spread truth. Mooney has a podcast called Kingdom Over Coffee and is a published author of We Were Reborn for This: The Jesus Model for Living Heaven on Earth as well as Say Yes: How God-Sized Dreams Take Flight.

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