Will you lie down and rest?
I will make you lie down in safety. Hosea 2:18
Protecting Father,
We confess, we resist lying down; we resist rest.
We’d rather, to change Spurgeon’s words around a little,
sit up and worry than lie down in peace.
You know this about us,
and that is why you “make us
lie down in safety.”
We are truly stubborn sheep,
who you so kindly tend.
You “make us lie down in green pastures” (Psalm 23:2).
We believe; help our unbelief.
Help us to trust
that you will one day
abolish the bow and the sword (Hosea 2:18).
Help us to know that we need not fear
“sudden terror or the ruin of the wicked” (Prov. 3:25),
so that we may lie down and not be afraid (Proverbs 3:24-25).
Help us to believe that we are always safe “in Christ,”
our true haven and home,
where nothing can separate us from your love.
Help us to remember
that while we are subject to
“tribulation, distress,
persecution, famine,
nakedness, danger, and sword” (Romans 8:35)
in this world,
the day is soon coming
when we will be safe in the walls of the holy city,
where no danger or threat can enter.
In Jesus’ protecting name. Amen.
Read Hosea 2:18; Psalm 23:1-2; Proverbs 3:24-25; Romans 8:31-38.
*This prayer inspired by Charles Spurgeon, Promises of God, January 4.
