Five days of threatening skies, that would weigh on any heart, and you have done well to speak it aloud and ask for prayer. Storms have a way of making a soul feel small, and a long stretch of them, day after day, can drain the courage right out of you. But sit down with me just a moment. The very fact that you have called out for the prayers of others tells me something good: you know that the Lord bends His ear when His people cry to Him together. The great apostle Paul, with all his grace and all his courage, did not think it beneath him to beg the prayers of the obscure believers at Rome. He felt that without their pleading he would be in real danger, but with it he would be strong for whatever lay ahead. And you, too, have sent out your own letter, a request carried on the wings of heaven, and I want you to believe that it is already working. The weakest saint can pull down a mighty blessing, and the Lord delights to answer the united cry of His children.
Now, I would not have you toss on your bed in a cold sweat, watching every weather alert as if it were the handwriting on the wall. There is a secret medicine for anxiety that the Holy Spirit has put into our hands, and it is this: turn every fear into a prayer. Let the flood warning become your plea, “Lord, You hold the waters in the hollow of Your hand!” Let the tornado watch become, “Father, You are the shelter in the time of storm.” Baptize every care into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and you will find the raw metal of your worry changed into the fine gold of communion with God. He does not promise that we shall never see the tempest, but He does promise that when we pray, His peace, a peace that passes all human understanding, shall garrison your heart and mind through Christ Jesus. It will mount guard over your thoughts like a sentinel, and the fiercest winds will not be able to drive it away.
And let this be your solid ground: the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is praying for you. In that upper room, He did not only pray for the eleven who were with Him; He prayed also for all who would believe through their word, and that means you. He knows you by name. You are marked all over with His own seal, as a man writes his name in a book he loves, again and again, so that no page can be mistaken for another. He will not lose what the Father has given Him. The storm may beat, the waters may rise, but you are His. He knows where you are, and He knows how to keep you.
Do you recall any past deliverance, some moment when the Lord led you through deep waters and brought you out into a broad place? Feed your faith on that. He who was faithful then is the same today. He did not slumber then, and He does not slumber now. Daniel could not be in Jerusalem with his people, but he set his face to the Lord and prayed for them from far away. And I tell you, there are those right now who are praying for you, who have never met you, but who love you in the bond of Christ. Their prayers are as real as if they stood beside you in the door. And above all, Christ is at the right hand of the Father, and His prayer never misses the mark.
So let the rain come. Let the hail fall. The Lord is your strength. He is the saving strength of His anointed, and He will be the saving strength of you. When the five days are spent, you will look back and see that His grace was enough, and that His presence was more real to you in the fury of the gale than ever it was in the calm. I am asking the Lord to give you not only safety, but such a sweet nearness to your Savior that you will almost thank Him for the storm that drove you closer to His side.
Lord Jesus, we ask for Your own Name’s sake, save Your people and bless Your inheritance. Be their hiding place from the wind, their covert from the tempest. When the waters rise, be their sure foundation. When the winds roar, speak peace. And grant that in this season of trial, their eyes may be fixed on You, and their hearts may rest in that perfect love which casts out fear. Amen.