3 Empowering Prayers for Strength and Comfort
He presses his face to mine in the silence of the night, and I drink it in. He’s inching ever closer to his fourth year, and I can’t help but wonder how it’s all going so fast. It seems like just yesterday I was uttering prayers for strength as the doctor pulled him from my body.
We rock long into the early hours of a new day, and every time I try to put him down, he says, “Hold me one more minute.”
I don’t have the heart to put him back in bed with this fever, this cough wracking his little body. I’m content to hold him through it.
A vireo sings its morning serenade out the window before the light starts slipping through the blinds. Dawn is rising with all its expectations and demands. I should put him down and find sleep.
He senses my upward movement and clings to my neck in a desperate grasp, and I sink into the chair again. I put my feet on the stool and lean into him, closing my eyes in this tender place of comfort. I’m reminded of Isaiah’s words to God’s people: “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you” (Isaiah 66:13).
My mind traces the footprints of the past year: The losses our family has endured, the waves of grief we’ve faced, the health troubles and financial strain, and the difficulty of it all.
You’ve certainly faced a few strains of your own this past year. I don’t know what they looked like, but I know I’m not the only one who has wrestled with God in the midnight hour. I’m not the only one who has lifted countless prayers for strength in life’s trying times.
How to Pray Prayers for Strength
What are we to do when the darkness comes and we’re left alone with our fears, pain, and unmet expectations? What do we do when life is hard, and we’re not quite sure how to keep putting one foot in front of the other?
When Life is Hard We Turn to God First
It’s tempting to call a friend, send a text, or ask for the advice of a mentor. There is a time for all of this. But above all this, before all this, God is waiting for us to turn to him first when life gets hard.
We need to reject the truisms that say, “When all else fails, pray,” or “All we can do now is pray.”
Pray first.
Pray as soon as the headache starts to descend.
Lift prayers for strength the moment you feel weak.
Turn to God first when the storm blows in.
Keep looking for his face while the tempest rages. And don’t look away when the storm clouds finally lift. He promises peace to those who stay fixed on him.
Find Prayers for Strength in Scripture
When life is hard, God’s Word is an anchor and source of strength. Here, we find truths to replace the lies that float through our minds.
Lies like, “I’m never going to make it through this trial,” are replaced by truths like, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).
Lies like “I’m not equipped for this” are replaced by truths like, “God’s power is perfected in my weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
The last words Jesus spoke before he ascended into heaven were, “I am with you, even until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). He came to us as Immanuel, God with us, and he left us with the reminder that he is still Immanuel.
Let’s look at three powerful prayers for strength:
1. Father, thank you for the promise to never leave me (see Deut. 31:6).
Do you need strength? Thank God for his promise to stay with you always. He will never leave you. He will never abandon you. Find your strength in this promise. Put your hope in the promise of his nearness.
Do you need strength? Thank God for his promise to stay with you always. He will never leave you. He will never abandon you. Find your strength in this promise. #prayer #God #strength Click To Tweet2. Father, thank you for being my shelter (see Psalm 91:1).
God promises to be a shelter (Psalm 91:1). He offers rest in the shadow of his wings (Psalm 63:7). He promises to fill me with streams of Living Water (John 7:38). Thank God for being your shelter in times of weakness. You will soon find him answering your prayer with his ever-present provision.
3. Father, thank you for comforting me in the same way a mother comforts her child (see Isaiah 66:13).
A child leans into his mother’s safe arms and finds security in her presence. He finds strength because he trusts his mother. We find strength in God when we place our full trust in the security of his everlasting arms.
Don’t Stop Praying Prayers for Strength
I hold my child until well after daybreak, drifting in and out of sleep with him. When the sun shines high above the tree line, we make our way downstairs and plant ourselves on the couch.
Somehow, comforting him feels like a divine assignment, and I know that it is.
He sleeps off and on throughout the day, and I drift in and out of thoughts of my Lord and God. I put off my to-do list and focus on loving well in the moment.
When dusk falls late in the evening, I put my boy in his bed, and he sleeps soundly. I brush my fingers across his cheek and offer a prayer to the Lord of my life. May I not forget the most important part of my life: To draw near to my God and seek his face always (James 4:8, Psalm 27:8).
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