Wednesday, May 7, 2025

Finding Peace in the Storms of Life Your Nightly Prayer for May 6, 2025 by Greg Grandchamp TONIGHT’S SCRIPTURE “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33

Finding Peace in the Storms of Life - Your Nightly Prayer

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Finding Peace in the Storms of Life
Your Nightly Prayer for May 6, 2025
by Greg Grandchamp

TONIGHT’S SCRIPTURE

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33

SOMETHING TO PONDER

Recently my wife and I spent a few weeks helping many in North Carolina who had been impacted by Hurricane Helene. What was amazing to me was the faith that so many of these people continued to express. How often have we heard, “I would not have made it without the Lord.” While most of us may not have faced any hurricanes that destroyed our homes, we certainly have all faced storms in our lives that seem overwhelming at the time. In fact, Jesus promised us these storms would come.

The thing is, while we sometimes turn and question God, what we often don’t think about is that perhaps God allowed these storms in order to draw us closer to Him. In order to draw us more securely to Him. Let’s face it, we do not grow closer to God through prosperity. Quite the opposite, I would say.

We need only to read the book of Job once in a while to remember our places in life. We can choose to complain and question, or we can choose faith. Through his complaints, Job chose faith. “Though He slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.” (Job 13:15)

Through all of his trials and struggles – through losing everything he had, including his family – Job found in himself hope in God. Maybe we can take comfort in that as we lay down to sleep. While it won’t change our circumstances, we can use it to change us and how we respond to those circumstances. Maybe we can find some peace knowing that the trials we are experiencing will result in drawing closer to God, if we let them.

YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER

Heavenly Father, whether I feel it or not, I know you are right here with me. And I know deep in my heart that the struggles I am suffering right now will result in me drawing ever closer to you. And for that I thank you. In that I can find some amount of peace and rest. Help me, Lord. Help me to feel the trust that your will is being done. I pray this in the powerful name of Jesus.

THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON

1. Think of how Jesus must have felt on the cross when he felt forsaken by God.

2. Think of other trials you have been through before, and looking back, how they seemed like merely a blip on the screen.

3. Think of the times that faith in Jesus has pulled you through struggles and times of trials.

Photo Credit: ©Pexels/Johannes Plenio

Grandchamp is an author and speaker. His book, “In Pursuit of Truth, A Journey Begins,” is an easy-to-read narrative that offers answers to the most common questions new believers and non-believers have about Jesus Christ (Amazon.) Greg speaks on living out our faith in our daily lives – and on creating true disciples of Christ.
Greg doesn’t pretend to be a pastor, a theologian, or a Bible expert, but offers the perspective of an everyday guy on the same journey as everyone else – in pursuit of truth.
Greg can be reached by email or on Facebook @ Greg Grandchamp - Author.

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Originally published Tuesday, 06 May 2025.

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A Prayer to Replace Despair with Hope By Lynette Kittle Bible Reading: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” - 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

A Prayer to Replace Despair with Hope - Your Daily Prayer - May 6

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A Prayer to Replace Despair A Prayer to Replace Despair with Hope

By Lynette Kittle

Bible Reading:

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” - 2 Corinthians 4:8-9with Hope
By Lynette Kittle

Bible Reading:
“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” - 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

Read or Listen Below:

Floundering through Fishy Times

One such situation in the Bible is Jonah, in which despair captured him at a time when he should have been rejoicing. His story is dramatic, to say the least.

After rejecting and running away from God’s calling in his life to warn wicked Nineveh of coming destruction, Jonah was thrown overboard from a ship and swallowed by a giant fish, which seemed hopeless at the time, like the end for him, spending 3 days and 3 nights inside it (Jonah 1:17). "From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said: ‘In my distress, I called to the Lord, and He answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and You listened to my cry’” (Jonah 2:1-2). God heard Jonah’s prayer and miraculously caused the fish to vomit him out of its belly (Jonah 2:10).

Falling Into Despair

After Jonah’s belly time, God asked him again to warn wicked Nineveh of the coming destruction, and this time he went. But when the evil king and people repented and were spared by God, Jonah fell into deep despair because he hated them and wanted to see their destruction.

As Jonah 4:1-3 chronicles, “Jonah, however, was greatly displeased, and he became angry. So he prayed to the Lord, saying, ‘O Lord, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster. And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.’”

But Jonah’s despair didn’t stop there; it spread, as Jonah 4:8 explains. “When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die and said, ‘It would be better for me to die than to live.’” Despair has a way of taking over, like it did with Jonah. “But God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?’ ‘It is,’ he said. ‘And I’m so angry I wish I were dead”’ (Jonah 4:9).

Hope Triumphs Over Despair

But when faced with trials, it doesn’t have to be that way; despair doesn’t have to take over our emotions because there is another way: hope.

Although Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had reason to feel despair when faced with a fiery furnace, instead of letting despair overtake them, they put their hope in God. “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to him, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand; but even if He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up’” (Daniel 3:16-18).

With God, there is hope, and in what may seem like the darkest of hours, when despair tries to capture us, Jesus wants us to know that “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

Let’s Pray:

Dear Father, Free us from fear, which leads to desperate thoughts that open the door in our hearts and minds to hopelessness. When faced with disappointments, losses, and sorrow, help us resist letting despair draw near and overtake us. Whenever we feel shaken, and our future looks uncertain, instead of listening to the lies of despair, open our ears to hear Your voice leading us. As You urge in Isaiah 28:23, “Listen and hear My voice; pay attention and hear what I say.” Strengthen our hearts to trust in You rather than looking at circumstances. Lead us to look to Your word and promises for our hope and future. In Jesus’ name, Amen

Lynette Kittle is married with four daughters. She enjoys writing about faith, marriage, parenting, relationships, and life. Her writing has been published by Focus on the Family, Decision, Today’s Christian Woman, kirkcameron.com, Ungrind.org, StartMarriageRight.com, and more. She has a M.A. in Communication from Regent University and serves as associate producer for Soul Check TV.

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