Father God, You are my “refuge and strength”, my “ever present help in trouble”. God, I pray this prayer to You now as a preemptive strike against the Devil, who would love for me to live in fear. Father, You know my heart and the worries that can so easily take root there. You know that as a mother, fear is so easy to hold on to and so difficult to let go of. But LORD, I know that You are “the stronghold of my life” and that You have given me “the spirit of adoption” so that I do not ever have to be “a slave again to fear.” Father, I praise you for pulling me out of the fear and panic that I felt constantly for so long, and LORD, I don’t ever want to return to that place. In You, O LORD, I cry “Abba, Father.”
I pray as I walk through each day that, as You have promised, You will “take hold of my right hand and say to [me], Do not fear; I will help you”. I will “not be dismayed” and I will know that You are with me for you are the LORD, my God.
You have never failed me and You will never fail me. Whenever I have been afraid, You have showed me Your strength. When I have called upon You in my anxiety, “You have calmed me with Your love” (Zeph. 3:17). When I was overcome by fear of this world and the evil within it, You placed my family in a safe place, a place to breathe and to be nourished in Your love. As Your Word says, Father, “I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you to fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass.”
LORD God, You are mighty, You are Sovereign, and worrying over the future of my children can do no good. LORD, teach me to “have no fear of bad news”, but instead to keep my heart “steadfast, trusting in the LORD.”
Father, as I begin this week, I pray that You give me opportunities to remember Your love and protection so that wherever you may lead us in the future, I will have already prepared to myself to not again allow fear to overcome me. To not again succomb to the panic that the evil one would have me feel. Holy Spirit, in my times of anxiety, remind me of the Word and help me to keep it hidden in my heart.
LORD, teach me to “rest secure” in You, knowing that You “shield [me] all day long…rest[ing] between [Your] shoulders.”
Father, I pray this prayer not only for me, but also for all mothers and fathers who fear for the safety of their children and families. Father, I pray that we will all learn to “lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.”
In the name of Christ Jesus Our Lord, I pray, Amen.
(Deuteronomy 33:12) (Psalms 4:8) (Psalms 27:1) (Psalms 46:1) (Psalms 112:7) (Proverbs 3:21, 23-26) (Isaiah 41: 10, 13) (Isaiah 51:12) (Romans 8:15) (2 Timothy 1:7) (Hebrews 13:6)
