God, I am furious tonight. Not at You—no, never at You—but at this world that is broken, at circumstances that are relentless, at people who hurt without thinking twice. My soul is screaming, and I can barely sit still. I feel like I’m drowning, gasping for understanding in waters that never stop rising. Yet here I am, writing to You because You are the only one who makes sense in this mess.
I think about Joseph tonight, because how else do I keep from losing it completely? Genesis 47: “Now there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.” No bread. No relief. Complete chaos. Joseph faced a famine that could have destroyed everything he knew, and yet he didn’t crumble. He didn’t curse the heavens. He said to his brothers: “God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you.”
And God sent him. God sent him. Before the famine even touched the land, before the hunger and fear and suffering began, God was already there. Why, then, do I feel like I am the only one standing in the middle of fire without armor? Why does it feel like everyone else has a map and I’m stumbling blind? I rage, God—not at You—but at the injustice of it all, the way life twists its knife and tests faith with cruelty.
Psalm 34:19 haunts me tonight: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” And yet, I feel battered, bruised, and sometimes abandoned. My patience is raw, frayed. I cry and pray and sometimes feel like I am screaming into a void. Help me, God, not to let this anger turn into bitterness. Let it drive me closer to You, not push me away. Let it sharpen my vision so I can see You in the middle of the storm.
I am tired of feeling powerless. I hate feeling powerless. I hate that I have to wait, watch, and hope while everything around me collapses. I want to shake the heavens and demand justice, demand clarity, demand relief. And yet, I will not curse Your timing. I will not trade faith for fury, even if the fury feels justified. Teach me to channel this anger, God, into fierce, unrelenting trust. Let me be bold in my petitions, raw in my prayers, and unwavering in my belief that You are not silent.
Lord, I confess I often recite my woes faster than I declare Your greatness. I am quick to narrate my fears but slow to proclaim Your faithfulness. Forgive me, Father. Teach me to shout Your glory over the chaos. Let my mouth speak heaven’s truth louder than my heart beats with panic.
I want to be like Joseph. I want to see the famine, the heartbreak, the betrayal, and still say, “God sent me before this. God is here. God will outlive this.” I want to hold that certainty in my chest while the storm tries to tear it away. I want to rage against the evil, cry against injustice, and still stand firm because You, Lord, are unshakeable.
Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Very present. Not maybe, not later, not if I’m lucky—very present. And yet, I wrestle with the silence sometimes. I scream into my pillow, throw my hands to the sky, demand answers, and still You remain. Not absent. Not inattentive. Just…waiting for me to trust.
I am angry, Lord. I am frustrated. I am afraid. And I am faithful. My heart is raw, but it is Yours. I will not turn away. I will not whisper quietly while my faith crumbles in the background. I will roar in prayer. I will challenge the darkness with my cries. I will cling to You with teeth gritted, fists clenched, and soul unbroken.
Teach me to walk through this chaos with fire in my heart. Let my anger become courage. Let my frustration fuel persistence. Let my despair sharpen my faith. Let me remember that the famine, the pain, the brokenness—they do not define me. You do. You define me. You precede me. You outlive this.
So tonight, God, I surrender all my anger, all my confusion, all my trembling, and I place it in Your hands. Let me speak life over the chaos. Let me declare Your purpose over the pain. Let me see You in the famine, in the betrayal, in the sleepless nights. I will not lose sight of You, Lord. Even when I rage, even when I cry, even when I feel abandoned—I will not lose sight of You.
There’s something about psalm 91 that grips my soul so tightly — like God Himself is wrapping me in His arms and saying, “You’re safe here.” And honestly, I needed that reassurance today.
The world feels… loud. Chaotic. Dangerous even. Fear has been creeping around the edges of my mind lately — fears about the future, my safety, the unknown. But then I read:
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” — Psalm 91:1
That line stopped me in my tracks. There’s a secret place with God — a place not everyone chooses to live in, but it’s always available to us. A place of peace that the world can’t touch. And the word “abide” — it’s not a temporary visit. It’s home. God wants me to dwell in Him, not just run to Him in crisis.
Lately, I’ve been rushing through my time with Him, praying with distracted thoughts, reading Scripture with one eye on my to-do list. But Psalm 91 isn’t about quick, surface-level faith. It’s about abiding. Living. Resting. Trusting.
Prayer #1: A Prayer to Dwell Deeply in God
Father,
I want to dwell in Your secret place — to live, move, and breathe in Your presence daily. Pull me in deeper. I don’t want to just visit You on Sundays or when I’m afraid. I want to abide under the shadow of the Almighty every moment of my life.
Teach me to build my home in You, not in the comfort of circumstances or the illusion of control.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
I continued reading, and my heart leapt again:
“I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.’” — Psalm 91:2
My God. My refuge. My fortress. Not someone else’s. Not a distant deity, but a personal protector.
And yet, sometimes I still struggle to fully believe I’m protected. That I’m safe. Not because God isn’t able — I know He is — but because I wrestle with feeling worthy of His protection.
But He’s never asked me to be worthy — only willing to trust.
Prayer #2: A Prayer of Trust
Lord Jesus,
I choose to say it out loud today: You are my refuge and my fortress. I trust You. Even when I feel afraid. Even when the world shakes. Even when the enemy whispers lies. You are stronger. You are greater. You are my shield.
Cover me in Your truth and help me walk in confidence, not fear.
In Your mighty name, Amen.
As I kept reading, I felt a blanket of peace fall over my heart:
“He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.” — Psalm 91:4
The image of God having wings — it’s so tender, so gentle. Not just powerful, but safe. Like a mama bird guarding her babies, fierce and loving all at once.
I closed my eyes and pictured myself under those wings — hidden, unseen by danger, wrapped in love.
Truth is, I’m not immune to fear. Some nights I wake up and feel the weight of anxiety pressing on my chest. But Psalm 91 reminds me that God’s presence is more than a comforting idea. It’s a fortress. A place I can physically retreat to in my spirit.
“You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day…” — Psalm 91:5
Those verses feel like they were written for me.
Prayer #3: A Prayer for Nighttime Peace
Heavenly Father,
When the night feels long and fear creeps in, let me rest under Your wings. Silence the voice of anxiety and remind me of Your truth.
Cover my mind with peace and let me sleep knowing I am loved, seen, and protected. You do not slumber, so I can.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Sometimes I wonder: How many battles has God fought for me that I never even saw?
How many accidents were prevented, how many spiritual attacks deflected, how many close calls diverted — all because of His hand over my life?
Psalm 91 says:
“For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.” — Psalm 91:11
God commands angels concerning me. That blows my mind. Not because I’m special — but because He is. Because His love is that intimate. That fierce. That real.
I’ve felt moments — strange moments — where I know something unseen was watching over me. A delayed flight that saved me from something I’ll never know. A gut feeling that kept me from driving a certain route. A narrow escape from a toxic relationship. I see His fingerprints all over my past, even when I didn’t recognize them at the time.
Prayer #4: A Prayer of Gratitude for Protection
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for protecting me — in ways I see, and in countless ways I never will. Thank You for sending angels to guard me. For orchestrating divine detours. For being ahead of me and behind me, hemming me in with Your love. I’m safe, not because I’m lucky, but because I’m Yours.
Thank You, Jesus. Amen.
The final verses of the psalm are God’s direct promise — and they took my breath away:
“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.” — Psalm 91:14
“He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.” — Psalm 91:15
“With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.” — Psalm 91:16
These verses are God’s voice — not David’s. Not a psalmist. God Himself is speaking. And it’s so personal. Because she has set her love upon Me… because she knows My name… because she calls on Me…
That’s me. That’s my story. I know His name. I love Him. I call upon Him. And He promises to answer.
He never said trouble wouldn’t come. He said, “I will be with her in trouble.” And honestly, that’s even better. Because I don’t want a life without trouble if it means a life without Jesus.
Prayer #5: A Prayer to Know God’s Presence in Trouble
Loving Father,
You never promised a life without pain, but You promised never to leave me in it. You promised to be with me in the fire, in the storm, in the valley.
So even when trouble comes, I won’t fear. You are my Deliverer, my Defender, my Salvation. Draw near to me. Let me feel Your presence more than I feel the pressure around me.
I trust You with my life — now and forever.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
I feel wrapped in something holy. Not because my circumstances changed — but because I remembered who God is.
Psalm 91 is not a magic shield from all harm. It’s a promise of God’s presence, God’s priority, and God’s peace in my life. It’s about knowing where to run, not just when danger strikes, but every single day.
It’s about trusting not just in what God can do, but in who God is.
He is my secret place. He is my shadow. He is my refuge. He is my wings. He is my home.
Scriptures to Reflect On Tonight:
Psalm 91 (the whole chapter — it’s that good)
Proverbs 18:10 — “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.”
Isaiah 41:10 — “Fear not, for I am with you…”
Romans 8:31 — “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Thank You, God, for the angels at my side, the peace in my soul, and the secret place where I am always known, always safe, and always loved.
“If God loves us, then why does He send bad people to Hell?” someone once asked me.
This is a question that a lot of folks have.
So I would like to clear any misconceptions people might have about our Lord.
Our Lord’s love for us is vaster than we can imagine.
He loves us so much that He even sent His Son to rescue us from our mistakes.
But along with His love, He is also perfectly fair and just.
Let’s think about it like this. Imagine a good, caring parent.
This parent loves their child more than anything.
But when the child does something wrong, like stealing or lying, the parent doesn’t just ignore it.
Instead, they correct the child.
They do this not because they suddenly stopped loving their child, but because they want their child to learn from their mistakes and grow up to be a good person.
It’s the same with the Lord.
When we do something wrong, He doesn’t just ignore it, even though He loves us deeply.
His fairness comes into play. Sometimes we face the results of our bad decisions, and this helps us learn and grow, and improve.
I know the idea of hell can sound scary.
But it’s essential to remember that God doesn’t want anyone to end up there.
He would like everyone to transform their ways and choose Him.
Hell is a choice. It is what happens when people decide to turn their backs on the Lord’s love and His ways.
God loves us so much that He lets us make our own choices, even if they lead us away from Him.
Our job as Christians is to accept His love and understand His fairness.
We need to make good choices that bring us closer to Him.
And we should always pray for those who seem to have lost their way, hoping they find God’s love and choose Him.
Sometimes, it’s tough to understand why things are the way they are.
But remember this. God’s love for us is a love that helps us grow. It’s a love that guides us, teaches us, and helps us become the greatest we can be. Why don’t you use these simple ideas to accept God’s love?
One of the greatest struggles encountered by many of God’s people is prayer. Our three deadly enemies, being the world, our own flesh, and the devil are all involved in keeping us away from this divine discipline. But even in the midst of our times of prayer, any one, or a combination of these enemies can rise up to distract us from fellowship with the Lord.
The world tends to increase our time spent away from prayer by busying, or overburdening us with things like work, school, and other necessary things. When it comes to our flesh, it wants nothing at all to do with the things of God. Flesh cries out to be satisfied—and prayer does not do that. “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Galatians 5:17).
Satan of course, is an enemy of prayer because he and his horde of principalities and powers know what can happen when the child of God invests quality time with the Lord.
Whether it is through intercessory prayer, petitions, or simply desiring to hear from Him for guidance, we are ultimately strengthened through our prayer times. Prayer has been designed by God to enrich the life of every believer. Even at its most basic level, prayer touches God. It is not “busy work,” i.e., something that we do just to say that we did it. Through it we are able to enter into intimate fellowship with the Lord.
Prayer also engages us into spiritual warfare. As stated previously, there are spiritual forces arrayed against us when we pray. Satan will do all that he can to frustrate our faith, and if we are not careful, he can convince us that God either does not care, or that He is not listening. In times when this does take place, we know immediately that the devil is a liar, because God has given us His Word which assures us that we can know that he hears us when we pray.
Five essential ways that we can know that God hears our prayers:
He Hears Us Because We Do Not Treasure Sin
He Hears Us Because We Know That He Is Able
He Hears Us Because We Come Boldly to His Throne
He Hears Us Because We Have Humbled Ourselves
He Hears Us Because We Pray According to His Will
Some may quibble over which of the spiritual disciplines are most important. While each one may be involved more in one discipline over another, the truth is that they all share equal value to the child of God. Each draws us into God’s presence in its own powerful way. However, when we pray, we should listen carefully to His voice, because we know that our prayers have been heard by Him.
What Is the Power of Prayer?
What is the power of prayer? How can prayer bring a person back to life? How can it heal the sick? How does prayer comfort those who are anxious or sinking into the depths of depression? Why do Christians pray for their future spouses or pray prayers of protection over their children as they send them off to school? How can prayer impact those who don’t know Jesus or help in a time of crisis like a pandemic?
The answer is found in one pivotal scripture. In Matthew 18:18-20, Jesus tells us about the power of prayer when he said,
“Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
There are dozens of real-life accounts in the Bible where Jesus and other disciples battled in prayer. God shut the heavens and prevented rain from falling for three years at Elijah’s request. He parted the red sea for Moses to lead His people through. He cast out demons; Jesus healed the sick and gave sight to the blind, and, on more than one occasion, raised people from the dead, like Lazarus.
Do we realize the power we have available to us when we take our authority in prayer? If we did, we would be praying in Jesus’ name more. There would be no such thing as doubt, fear, or anxiety because we would be on our faces before God, storming the heavenly realms in battle with the darkness and evil forces in our world.
Talking to God So, what exactly is the power of prayer? The power of prayer isn’t in the words you utter. It’s not about what you pray or even how you pray. Prayer can be defined as talking to God, but it is much more than that. Prayer is an act of worship that glorifies God and reinforces our need for Him. Through living a life of prayer, we communicate with the very source of and purpose for our existence.
It is our fiercest weapon against the enemy and all things in this fallen world. Priscilla Shirer is the author of the Fervent: A Woman’s Battle Plan to Serious, Specific, and Strategic Prayer says, “Prayer is the portal that brings the power of heaven down to earth. It is kryptonite to the enemy and to all his ploys against you.”
Another well-known author, Mark Patterson says, “Prayers are prophecies. They are the best predictors of your spiritual future. Who you become is determined by how you pray. Ultimately, the transcript of your prayers becomes the script of your life.”
In other words, who you become, the circumstances in your life, and the core of your character are all determined by what you talk to God about. According to the Bible, the power of prayer is, quite simply, the power of God, who hears and answers prayer. Consider the following:
God Is All-Powerful The Lord God Almighty can do all things; there is nothing impossible for Him (Luke 1:37). The character and heart of God is the very fabric of the gospel. When we close our eyes, get on our knees, the spirit of God whispers, “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” It’s as if to say to our hearts, no need is too great or small.
God Asks Us to Pray He invites, encourages, and wants us to talk to him. We are to come to him in faith, (James 1:5), with persistence (Luke 18:1), with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6), within his will (Matthew 6:10), and from a heart that is right with God (James 5:16).
In fact, in Luke 18:1 we read, “And he [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” Hebrews 4:14-16 talks about Jesus as our High Priest and says He can sympathize with us.
Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” We have been given access to the very throne of God through prayer.
He Answers Our Prayers The Lord God Almighty answers prayer. “I call on you, O God, for you will answer me” (Psalm 17:6). “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles” (Psalm 34:17). In John 16:23-24, Jesus makes a stunning, sweeping, glorious promise to us:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
In other words, when we ask God to give us a love for our neighbors, he does. When we ask for patience, he begins to tend to our hearts, uprooting areas of impatience and then provides opportunity to practice patience. When we ask him to be near to us, his presence sweeps in and surrounds us like a cozy blanketed embrace filled with his peace and strength.
Even when we lack faith or have very little faith. Sometimes learning to trust God with our prayers is like being a toddler. We wobble, waver and fall. But he doesn’t chastise us. Instead, he encourages us to get back up and try again with his hands held out as he says, “Because of your little faith,” He told them. “For I assure you: If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20).
Power of Prayer and How Do I Tap into It? The power of prayer isn’t in the person praying. It’s not a magic formula. It isn’t keywords. It is an open heart, humble and filled with awe of who our mighty God is. Rather, the power resides in the God who is being prayed to.
1 John 5:14-15 tells us, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him.”
In fact, Jesus rebukes those who pray using repetitions or those who pray in public to seek attention or those who don’t have the right heart, “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:7-8).
Psalm 107:28-30 reminds us, “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.” There is power in prayer!
The Christian Tech-Nerd 