Lord,
We pray for so much right now. We come to You for help, our loving Abba Father, as believers in Jesus Christ, who is our elder brother. You always hear our prayers just as You heard His, always with us by Your indwelling Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:20, 1 Cor. 3:16).
This suffering feels impossible. But You know that, so Your Spirit illuminates Your Word to encourage, teach, and guide us, giving us Your answers to our prayers. Thank You, Lord.
Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you (Deut. 31:6 ESV).
Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Wounded and weary, help me, I pray!
Power, all power, surely is thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!
(“HAVE THINE OWN WAY, LORD,” POLLARD, A. A., 1906)
Thine own way is best…for You know best, Lord
We humbly come to You as the only One who knows what’s truly best for us.
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! (Rom. 11:33 ESV)
We think we know best, but as mere humans, we only know so much based on what we can see or have experienced, what others predict, and what our imaginations ponder about the future. We don’t fully understand.
You do.
Zoom us wide into Your greater love story and perfect plan for us, calming our hearts when we pray as our beloved Savior did.
But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed (1 Pet. 4:13 ESV).
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you (1 Pet. 5:6-7 ESV).
Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,
as in thy presence humbly I bow.
God’s purpose for us, shining Christ in us
In Your all-knowing perfect plan of love for us, You tell us Your will and purpose for us in Jesus Christ. You’re “conforming us to” Christ’s image, His likeness (Rom. 8:29). You’re transforming us…in the waiting, the suffering, the whole journey of our Christian life. You’re gradually doing this within us.
In the context of every hardship. By Your grace.
You’re shining Christ…in us!
And we all, with unveiled faces, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18 ESV).
Mold me and make me after thy will,
while I am waiting, yielded and still.
Help us to pray according to Your will, trusting and waiting
Father, keep us from the enemy’s lie that there’s something wrong with our faith. It’s not a problem with our prayers when Your answer seems to be, “No, that’s not according to my will right now, my beloved child,” or “Wait, it’s not time yet.”
Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Thou art the potter; I am the clay.
Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases (Ps. 115:3 ESV)
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint (Is. 40:31 ESV).
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything
according to his will
he hears us.
And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him (1 Jn. 5:14-15 ESV).
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding (Prov. 3:5 ESV).
Have Thine own way, Lord, shining Christ in us!
It’s so comforting to remember that You’re at work, shining Christ in us…through it all.
Please help us rest yielded and still, waiting, wondering, and praying:
Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Hold o’er my being absolute sway!
Fill with thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!
Calm us as we release all unknowns into Your hands of love, as You continue to conform us more and more to the image of our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ.
May Christ alone be glorified as You shine Him in us, in all we say, do, and think. Help us, we pray. In His precious and treasured name, amen.
Material adapted from Singing the Gospel to Job: Finding Hope in Suffering, Lauri A. Hogle, © 2022
This week’s “Shining Christ in Us” playlist gift and other resources
This week’s playlist gift follows along these themes. We sing-pray God’s promises to us and our love for our Savior, into our trials. We ask Him for help to glorify Him and shine in and through us, Christ as our all, as we suffer. If this might strengthen and encourage you too (for I wrote this prayer in my ongoing suffering), let’s sing Christ’s hope together, sister in Christ. Sign up here, and this week’s professionally curated playlist will come to your email with love.
To hear Scripture devotional with calming hymn playing, click here for YouTube podcast.
For chronic illness and pain sufferers, prayer, Scripture, and a music therapy-inspired hymn podcast to help our symptoms
Devotional Bible study prayer journals, available on Amazon. Click for details.
Praying God’s Promises Into Suffering
Near to God: A Devotional Bible Study of God’s Character in Our Suffering
