Southern California Conference

There are many instances of prayer in Scripture. I'd like to read from Mark 4:35-41. Before I do so, I want to share the experience that Jesus had just had before this passage. Jesus had been preaching and preaching and was tired and exhausted. He said, "Let's go to the other side." You will be very familiar with this text, but how does it tie in with the power of prayer? Let's read:

³⁵ That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” ³⁶ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷ A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸ Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

³⁹ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

⁴⁰ He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

⁴¹ They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

What was the reaction of the disciples? They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this, even the wind and the waves obey him?" In our prayer lives, we need to remember that we serve an awesome God. Through this last year, we've had many prayers, many instances of need for prayer for our loved ones, for institutions, for churches — but Jesus. He's here for us. We need to simply ask, and He will provide.

I want to read a prayer to you today from the book, Incredible Moments with the Savior by Ken Gire. It's a great devotional book, and I recommend it for anyone who wants to share the incredible moments that Jesus had when He was on this earth.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for how deep the well of Your compassion is...and how pure...and how sweet. Thank you for how freely and spontaneously that water is given.

Thank you that it is not great knowledge or great wealth or great power that moves you to draw from that well, but something as small and weak and tender as tears.

Thank you, O most merciful Savior, for the spring day when you gave back that son to his mother. What a beautiful picture of compassion. And what an enticing picture of the spring yet to come, when you will wipe every tear from our eyes and when there will no longer be any sickness or death.

Give me the heart you had for that bereaved mother, for those whose shoulders are stooped low under the weight of loss too great for them to bear.

I pray for those who have lost a loved one, whether by sudden accident or by a slow, agonizing disease.

Grant them grace to bear the painful introspection of unanswered prayers.

Grant them grace to know that though their prayers went unanswered, their tears did not go unnoticed.

Grant them grace to know that he who notices when a sparrow falls to the ground, took note of their loss with his tears.

Especially I would like to pray for _____, whose heart is broken with grief...

Today, I challenge all of us to seek our hearts for those that come into the midst of our realm, that we will pray this prayer for them, that we will see the needs of others around us as Jesus sees our own needs. Help us to pray for others, help us to pray for those in need. Thank you, Jesus, for always being there for us and Jesus help us to pray this prayer for others who are in need.

Yes, Jesus calmed the seas, and the final reaction of his disciples was interesting, instead of a reaction of excitement and glee and relief that their safety was there, instead, the reaction was one that stated: “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Mark 4:41). We serve a God who will always be there for us. The only thing that we need to be terrified of is that we do not ask God to be in our lives, because when God is in our lives, we never have to worry or be terrified again.