Seasons of chaos and storms are inventible in life. These seasons can make you feel as if all is lost and abandoned, because the wreckage of what is left from the storm can feel daunting and beyond repair. The beauty of Christ is that He not only is the Lord of restoration, but He is the God of making all things new in His time and work.
A Prayer for Restoration
Dear Lord,
We have seen the damage firsthand that storms can cause in our lives. We know the destruction, aching, and devastation that they cause. If we are being honest, at times it can seem impossible that anything beautiful or good can come from such sorrows. We know within our hearts that this isn’t the end of the story, that You have something far greater to come.
Father, we ask today for Your hand in our lives. We pray for the restoration of our lives by Your process. That process may not look like what we would think or plan, but we know that because You see all that is, was, and is to come...that ultimately, You will do what is most compassionate and best. Father, today we come before Your Holy throne to ask for Your restoration in our lives. We submit ourselves to Your ever-loving Will and kindness throughout.
In Jesus' name,
Amen
How to Apply This Prayer
Throughout the scriptures it is clear that when God seeks to restore, compassion is coupled along with that intention. Jeremiah 34:26 shares, “For I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them.” It is God’s heart for His chosen people to not only restore, but to compassionately restore something even better than before. Much like John 15 sharing about pruning even the good fruit, at times things will be removed or cut from our lives so that He can grow something even better in its place.
John 10:10 shares, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”
What Jesus is saying is that forces in this world will seek to steal, kill, and destroy much in our lives, but He has come so that we may have life and life abundantly. That is not by our design or will that He comes to give this fullness, but by His power and will. God sees the journey not only in the details, but in the grand picture, something we cannot. Trusting Him to restore in His timing and way is to have faith that ultimately it is for that abundance that is Him.
Our God Is Faithful to Rebuild and Restore
The legacy of the Lord’s faithfulness is the testimony of His actions in the lives of His children. God rejoices over us with great love and compassion through His plans. Isaiah 61 and Isaiah 62 are the story of God restoring what was lost and broken and instead giving something more glorious and new than before in its place.
Isaiah 62 shares, “No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah (delighted in, protected), and your land Beulah (married) for the Lord will take delight in you.”
When the Father seeks to rebuild, it is not as we would expect. He does not merely replace the item on the shelf that was broken, He gives something better.
More often than not, through ruins in our lives, it can be easy to wear those wounds as part of our identities. Even unspoken, we begin to call ourselves by the name Deserted or Desolate. But the Lord seeks to give instead His Name, which pours out protection, delight, and establishes a covenant between God and us of a new and glorious reformation in our lives.
May God remind you this day that He is working all things together for His glory, and for your benefit (Romans 8:28). May you have the courage to stand in faith that He will honor these promises to you in His timing and way, and that in His compassionate love we have all that we will ever need. We have life and life abundantly.
Beautiful Bible Verses of Restoration
Isaiah 61:3-4 – to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
Romans 8:28 – And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Job 42:10 – after Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.
John 10:10 – the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.
Jeremiah 34:26 – For I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them.
1 John 5:4 – for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
Psalm 51:12 – Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Psalm 71:20-21 – Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once more.
Joel 2:25-26 – I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm—my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.
Ephesians 3:17-21 – so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
God is the God of restoration and compassion. Come before Him today with hands open to what He will do to not only restore, but to make better than all you could ever ask for or imagine through and by and rooted in Him, the giver of all good things.
Cally Logan is a writer and teacher from Richmond, Virginia. She graduated from Regent University. Currently, she is a writer for Dear Sparrows Ministry site, and the Podcast, "Dear Sparrows." In her free time, she enjoys leading a high school girls’ small group, cooking, and spending time in tree houses. Her latest books, Dear Young Sparrow and Unveiled are available everywhere or at DearSparrows.com.
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