Scripture
Today’s prayer verse comes from Luke 8:23-25, “As they sailed He fell asleep. and a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in danger. And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, ‘Master, Master, we perish!’ Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. But He said to them, ‘where is your faith?’ and they were afraid and marveled, saying to one another, ‘who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?’”
Background & Application
I’m sure in our busy lives that we have felt like we spend much of our time in the midst of a squall on a sinking boat with no oars and a badly torn sail. and regardless of the size of your storm or boat, crying out “we perish!” can seem like the only thing left in us. But we don’t do it, do we? We couldn’t bear to hear Jesus ask us where is our faith. So we just plow on ahead and start bailing water. But we’ve got it backwards. The crying out is having the faith, not the plowing forward. The storm doesn’t separate us from Him, it’s why He’s in the boat. The disciples’ problem wasn’t that they were scared or thought they would die. that’s when we are at our most divine state, completely human and totally dependent on God. Jesus asked where is their faith because they marveled that He commanded the elements. they needed help, they just didn’t expect to get it. He calmed the storm and righted their ship, and they were surprised. The next time we’re in the midst of a storm, let’s cry out to Jesus, and perhaps all that will perish will be our reliance on our boats and buckets.
Charge
As we pray today, let’s ask God to take away our self-reliance. pray that we will all stop bailing and start trusting in the God who commands the winds. Pray that each of us will stop trying to answer own prayers and will expect God to be God.
