Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5

Faithful Lord,

We admit that it is sometimes very difficult to trust in Your plan, especially when we cannot discern it. We see the messiness of our lives and how things have turned out quite differently from what we planned, and we wonder how You are working through our situations. We look to the world around us and see strife, anger, sin, and disregard for Your Word. Lord, how can anything good come from this? Yet we find in Scripture examples of people through whom You worked in spite of tragic circumstances. Joseph was betrayed and sold by his own brothers into slavery in Egypt, and eventually found himself in prison for obeying Your Word. Yet You placed him into a position of authority and saved the ancient world from a terrible famine. His brothers meant evil against him, but You “meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive” (Genesis 50:20). Most of us will likely not be used in such a dramatic way, but You assure us that we can trust You no matter our earthly circumstances. Lord, You placed each of us in this specific time and place in history, in specific families with our own circles of influence. Use us for Your purposes, and help us to trust in You even when our lives seem to be spinning out of control. Give us strength to say with confidence, “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Help me to trust You in the following situations…

In Your name I pray. Amen.

For a full explanation of this challenge, see the post 12-Minute Prayer Challenge. If you are just joining us, feel free to continue on with us from the current day, or if you prefer, you can go back and start at Day 1.