A Prayer for Affirming Hope in God's Unfailing Love

Scotty Smith

Scotty Smith Blog | July 12, 2012

The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue. Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love. Ps. 33:16-18

Dear Jesus, though it's not fun, it is a good thing to come to the end of ourselves---to be in situations where all of our resources, all of our strength, all of our wisdom are simply not enough. Indeed, it is a gospel thing to feel the pain of realizing that whatever worked in the past is not working in the present moment; to feel the confusion of not knowing what to do next; to feel the helplessness of being out of control.

For only in those times do we fully abandon ourselves to the God who alone can part Red Seas; overthrow whole Midianite armies with three hundred gun-less soldiers; take down Goliaths with a pebble; feed multitudes with a few fish and pieces of bread; raise a dead man for the salvation of his people and the transformation of the cosmos.

As much as we'd like to be, we're simply not enough on our own. Being our own savior is doomed to failure, Jesus, so we abandon ourselves to you today. For you are that dead man who now lives; the King who now reigns; the Bridegroom who is returning.

Jesus, you are the One who is redeeming his bride and making all things new. It is your unfailing love that we can, and must, hope in. There is no other supply sufficient to the need. There is no other strength sufficient for the task. There is no other balm sufficient for the pain. There is no other rest sufficient for the exhaustion. There is no hope sufficient for the crisis.

We bring our broken hearts to you. We bring our struggling marriages to you. We bring our divided churches to you. We bring our conflicted relationships to you. We bring our wayward children to you. We bring our unbelieving friends to you. We bring the needs of our community to you.

We bring our out-of-job, out-of-time, out-of-knowing-what-to-do selves to you. We bring it all to you, Jesus. We will trust in you and your unfailing love. You have never failed us, never. Astonish us by bringing much glory to yourself. So very Amen we pray, in your merciful and mighty name.

Comments:

LaPalabradelSenor.com

July 13, 2012 at 01:52 AM

Thank you for sharing this.

Mary

July 12, 2012 at 08:41 AM

"to feel the helplessness of being out of control.
For only in those times do we fully abandon ourselves to the God..." And guess what! He comes flooding into your life!

17 years ago, I had a seizure when I was alone. I was able to call 911, but my body was out of my control...nothing was in my control! As I was rushed to the hospital, I called out to God...WOW. His Presence filled and surrounded me, I went from believing to KNOWING God was Real. I knew such tremendous peace and joy.

A cat scan revealed a brain tumor, and after 3 hours of my body shaking, medication was given that stopped the seizure. Yet, it was the most precious time as the Holy Spirit led me in prayer for the people in the hospital.

The next morning my sister arrived, she looked at me and said "What is going on? You are glowing!"

Isn't Jesus wonderful.

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