Thursday, October 23, 2014

Praying with Confidence

 

But I trusted in Your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. Psalm 13:5
"You better come look at this.” My husband Charlie’s voice was tense. The river on which we live flooded, driving waves into our parking lot. The storm turned docks into tinder. We’d already moved our car to higher ground, but it was a frightening sight.

On the top floor, we were safe from flooding, but if the water got into the building, the furnace and utilities would stop functioning. Many people evacuated, but we heard that the city’s storm shelter had a broken generator so we stayed.

It was the first crisis in our life together where I saw Charlie anxious and I felt calm. I had been praying differently, in what I call “Lynn Holm style.” Lynn is the only person I know who completely lives his faith.
He’s been a missionary in Africa, a pastor, a father, a husband, and an all-around adventurer in the Lord. He is never afraid because he is never without God’s presence. He once told me that when winter storms threaten his home and life in Minnesota, he simply tells God that it is His home to do with as He will.

This kind of prayer initially seemed impossible. But I realized that I didn’t have to be Lynn in order to pray like him. And so I took Charlie’s hand. “Dear Lord, please watch over this, Your home, which You’ve given us to live in. Please keep us, Your children, safe, protected, and warm. Amen.”
Father, let me pray with confidence in Your plan.

By Marci Alborghetti

This devotion is excerpted from Daily Guideposts 2015.