A Prayer about Trusting God to Deliver from Trials

The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials…. 2 Peter 2:9

All-Seeing God,

We confess, sometimes your Word seems to mock us. 

We read that you “rescue the godly from trials,” 

that you will “deliver…from the snare of the fowler…” 

and that danger will not come near your children (see Psalm 91:3, 7). 

And yet, daily we dodge fiery arrows shot by the evil one. 

Wise Pastor Spurgeon writes, “God loves the godly, or godlike, 

and he makes a point of knowing 

where they are and how they are.”* 

Stop us in our prayer 

to ponder this profound truth, 

massage it deep into our hearts and minds. 

You know where we are 

and how we are this very moment. 

Help us to believe that you know 

“whom to deliver, 

when to deliver, 

and how to deliver.” 

Help us to believe that you deliver in a way 

“that is most beneficial to the godly, 

most crushing to the tempter, 

and most glorifying to [your]self.” 

Help us to trust your goodness 

as we wait to see that goodness 

in the land of the living (See Psalm 27:13). 

Because of your Son 

who delivered us from all our sin and trials, 

we pray. 

Amen. 

Read 2 Peter 2:9; Psalm 91.

*This prayer was inspired by a devotion in The Promises of God by Charles Spurgeon, July 12. 

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17

Lord, 

We believe; help our unbelief.

We believe you have already come into our midst 

in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

We believe you are a mighty one 

who has already saved us from our sins 

through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But in the next line of this magnificent verse, 

we stutter and stumble. 

We think that maybe you will rejoice in us 

some day in the future 

when we are more holy, 

that you will love us 

some day in the future 

when we never sin again,

that you will exult in us with loud singing 

some day in the future 

when we’ve finally earned our way to heaven.

But that’s not what Scripture tells us.

The gospel good news 

for all who trust in Jesus

is that right this minute, 

you are rejoicing over us, 

right this minute

you are quieting us with your love, 

right this minute

and you are exulting over us with loud singing. 

You saved us. 

You love us. 

You delight in us. 

You sing extra-loud over us, 

like the five-year-old who loves to sing 

at the top of his lungs 

because he’s so happy. 

Help us today to sit quietly 

and listen for the sound 

of your delight in us, 

and may that delight 

change the way we live and love 

today and every day. 

In Jesus’ saving name. Amen.

Read Zephaniah 3:14-20.