Read Deuteronomy 31:6; 2 Samuel 10:12; Ezra 10:4; Psalm 27:14; Isaiah 43:1-3; Matthew 14:27

"Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you." (Deuteronomy 31:6)

Lord, we all remember times of passing through the waters and going through the fire—overwhelming tests and furnace-like trials. And we have the scars to prove it. As those times return, we trust You that the waters will not drown us and the fire will not burn us. How faithful You are, Lord, to meet us at every one of life's contingencies...how caring and accepting, how full of grace and mercy. It is because of Your mercies that we are not consumed.

Now, Lord, do a work deep within our hearts. Provide us with fortitude for the trials of life—those we're enduring and those on the horizon. Help us to come to terms with negative attitudes that have been anchors weighing us down and stealing our joy. Forgive us for the sour responses that we have expressed and have encouraged in others. Give us eyes of faith to see beyond the predictable, beyond the facts and figures. Open us to a whole world of possibilities because You are the God of the impossible. Encourage us, Father, with thoughts that send us into our future with hope and joy. And may our attitudes become encouraging and contagious rather than destructive and poisonous.

In the name of the Lord Jesus we ask these things. Amen.

Excerpted from The Prayers of Charles R. Swindoll, Volume 2, Copyright 2010 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.