Asking for Calm

I put this together for a group that got together to pray for some people who were sick. It’s meant to be prayerful, imaginative, putting yourself in Jesus’ presence and trusting He sees you and understands you. He reminds you that you are not alone, you can surrender your storm to Him, and that He is in control.

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We now move into the asking of God for the intentions of our hearts.  I am going to read a familiar story about Jesus Calming the Storm from Matthew 8.  You’ll notice I’ve added to the story a bit to help put ourselves into the story with Jesus.  So close your eyes.

Jesus got into a boat and his disciples followed him.  Pretend that you are in this boat with Jesus.  You could be in the boat with your family, or maybe with someone whom you’re here to pray for.  While you’re in this boat, suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves.  We know how this feels. The storms hitting us or our loved ones…being hit with waves of fear, uncertainty, pain, loneliness, worry, exhaustion.  We are swamped by waves, and we look over in the boat and see Jesus asleep.  He is faithful, as He was with us before the storm, and He’s still here now. We remember the humanness of Jesus, he’s exhausted, and we remember that he understands how we feel.  He knows sometimes we’d rather just curl up right next to Him and go to sleep too.  

As the disciples realized their only hope is Jesus, they came and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”  So now it’s your turn to ask.  We realize that our only hope is Jesus. He is awake, looking at you with his gentle eyes.  Take a minute and tell him what’s on your heart, tell him about this storm…[pause]  “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” 

Jesus understands, and His heart is moved in compassion and love for you, and He says, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?”  He smiles at you, and in the story, we read that Jesus gets up, and rebukes the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.  The men were amazed and asked, “What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?”

Come Holy Spirit, calm this storm. Jesus, I trust in you. Amen.