This is a piece I wrote a year ago when my fiancé (at the time, he is now my husband) and I were both battling a strong-armed illness.
It is something I wrote to help me cope with the fear I felt at the time. It brought me comfort to contemplate some of the biblical struggles I learned from a young age. I hope it will bring comfort to anyone that reads, despite the variety of giants we are all currently facing.
Daily Prayer for Strength During Difficult Times
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What do I do when I feel afraid? I write.
What do I do when I feel upset? I write.
What do I do when I don’t understand? I write.
There are very few situations in which writing does not offer some form of therapeutic release. I believe writing is the spiritual gift God has blessed me with as a coping mechanism for many of life’s more difficult struggles (and the joyful ones, as well).
I feel like David, facing a brutal giant. Only this giant is not named Goliath. It could possibly be named any of the following: financial distress, sudden or enduring illness, strained familial relationships, the devastating loss of a loved one, inability to get pregnant, guilt over past mistakes that have led to current unrest, overarching anxiety issues, unemployment, the social climate of our country, civil rights, the list of possibility is endless.
Equipped with nothing but a small slingshot and only one chance, my concern is: “What if I miss?”
This is too important to miss. I cannot conceive the possibility of not defeating this particular giant that is looming in front of me and holding captive the very family member, friend, co-worker, child, or other relation that I love.
Yet, like David, who surely felt fear akin to mine, my faith will sustain me. Those battle cries of prayer will enable me. God’s ability to intervene, provide a straight shot to the eye of the giant, will meet me where my abilities fail.
Dear God, Please guide the pebble of powerful prayer straight to the heart of this vicious viral villain, or whatever other life situation is threatening your security and inner peace. Please free me from the stronghold of mental warfare in which I am unarmed and ill-equipped to fight.
Like Moses, leading a large group of whiny Israelites through the desert, praying diligently for a way out, please lead me out of this dry, brittle, prison of deserted illness, financial ruin, stressful job change, move across the country, or any number of unwelcome life changes.
Like Esther, a time such as this, never comes without internal struggle, fear, and confusion. Please provide me with the knowledge, the know-how, the obedience to answer this call. A time such as this is now….ready or not, we need the courage, sustenance and faith to answer that call.
Like Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, when He prayed for the cup to be taken from Him, yet not His will, but God’s will be done, I pray that this illness, unrest, fear, anxiety, disillusionment, anger, pain, or whatever else is lingering in my heart, be taken from me or my precious loved one.
I pray for his miraculous recovery. I pray for her full health to be restored; I pray these things from the depths of my soul. Yet, with full obedience and a faith-inspired peace beyond understanding, not my will, but yours be done, dear Jesus.
The Bible is chalked full of characters too scared to fight, too fearful of going when called, ultra-confused by building when unemployed, and misunderstanding why they were selected when not fully, or even partially, qualified.
Yet.
God lovingly infused courage into the fearful, wisdom into the inept, and ability into the unqualified. He has done it for countless others in the history of this great big world. He can do it for me. He can do it for your defeated loved one. He can do it for you.
Matthew 17:20, Jesus said,
“Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Matthew 17:20
With faith as minuscule as a mustard seed, we humbly ask that God will move this mountain, heal our loved ones fully, restore us to physical, spiritual, and mental health so that we can continue the beautiful work he is no doubt orchestrating from the exquisite stands of heaven above.
