“I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'” —Psalm 91:2
The last two years of my life have been physically challenging and spiritually strengthening. I can declare with certainty based on God’s Word and my personal experience that the Lord is utterly trustworthy. Therefore I have made the choice to place my trust in Him, regardless of feelings, circumstances, or the opinions of others.
So if you, too, find yourself challenged by chaos, fear, anger, weariness, disease, loneliness and despair, I encourage you to renew your commitment to trust in the One who has loved you from before the beginning of time, and who will love you to the end. The world is not falling apart. It is falling into place at the feet of the One who works all things for your good and His glory.
The following is a prayer I wrote regarding unshakable trust that has been taken from my newest book, The Light of His Presence: Prayers to Draw You Near to the Heart of God. As our world convulses and our nation implodes, I have prayed this prayer for you … and for myself.
O God of Creation,
I bow before You, acknowledging Your greatness and Your glory. No one compares to You. No one is Your equal. I look at Your creation and marvel at the infinite power and wisdom that are Yours. Nothing is beyond Your reach. You are the One who “brings out the starry host one by one and calls them each by name. Because of [Your] great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.” You are the One who “has pitched a tent for the sun. … It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.” “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there” (Isaiah 40:25-26; Psalms 19:4, 6; 139:7-8). There is nowhere in all the universe where You are not.
Surely Your arm “is not too short to save, nor [Your] ear too dull to hear” (Isaiah 59:1). Yet I confess that as I look around at the mess our world is in—when terrorists strike; when floods, fires, tornadoes and storms ravage our land; when national leaders don’t lead; when business leaders lie; when political leaders put their own interests before the people’s; when spiritual leaders contradict Your Word—I find myself asking, What’s going on? Where are You?
The enemy whispers lies, tempting me to think You are …
distracted, disengaged, distant,
inattentive, inactive, impotent,
outmaneuvered, outmoded, outclassed,
unable, unaffected, and even unaware
of our fear, our helplessness, our confusion, our outrage.Why do You seem so small while our problems, disasters and enemies seem so large?
So I ask, Almighty God, that You would strengthen my resolve to place my trust in You. Give me the courage to declare that even if “the kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord” (Psalm 2:2), I will trust in You. If “the earth give[s] way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging,” (Psalm 46:2-3) I will trust in You. Though “nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall” (Psalm 46:6), I will trust in You. When “the wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright” (Psalm 37:14), I will trust in You. I trust You!
In the powerful, unshakable, unstoppable name of Jesus, Amen.
These are trusting times. Keep praying…
For His Glory,
Anne Graham Lotz
Message adapted from Anne’s new book, The Light of His Presence: “A Prayer for Unshakable Trust.”
