A Desire To Walk By Faith, Not By Feelings (a prayer)

I desire to walk by faith, not by feelings. But, oh my, how hard that is! It’s especially difficult in the middle of those extended seasons we all want to avoid.

And so I pray.

Walk By Faith — a Prayer

Lord, I don’t have all the answers to life and suffering and Your ways. In fact, the more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know. Your ways are often a mystery, so different from my own. Yet, I do know You love me. I do know You sent Your Son to save me. I do know You will never leave me to suffer alone.

Your Word tells me that I am a sinner, dead in my sins…but for Jesus Christ. It tells me that because of Your great love, You sent Your Son to cover my sins with His blood, so I could be in Your most-holy presence. It tells me that You continue to work in my life to further conform me to Your image: loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled (Galatians 5:22-23). Your inspired Word further tells me I am to love You above all else and love others out of that abundance. It tells me that I am to share the priceless Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ with everyone, “to the ends of the earth.” It tells me that I am precious in Your sight.

So, although at times I’m confused, uncertain, even moved to anger, I will trust in You. Please help me when I give into worry and anger. Draw me back to shelter under Your wing. Remind me of Your faithfulness. Remind me that I’m not to know everything but to surrender everything, including my understanding. Assure me that as long as I don’t turn away from Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I will spend eternity in heaven, with You and all the saints. I can’t begin to imagine what that will be like, but You promise that my tears will be wiped away, that “death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore” (Revelation 21:4). I trust that heavens splendor and glory defy words and understanding.

In my humanity, I long to have answers, Lord, but I trust in Your sovereignty, Your might, Your holiness, Your mercy, Your love. I trust You have “plans for [my] well-being, not for disaster, to give [me] a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). Help me walk in that trust. Help me surrender my need for understanding, for comfort, for control and live out this earthly life by faith, not by feelings.

In the name of the precious Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.