A Prayer for Powerless Moments
By Meg Bucher

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But when he, the Spirit of the truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is to come. John 16:13 (NIV)

No one could hear me. School was starting in less than 15 minutes and the whole family was out “shoveling” the driveway of snow. Without the normal break in silence that they were used to, they had no idea it was time to go.

It seemed that, along with every flu germ, my voice had been tossed out of the house.

Sometimes it takes a slight absence of normality to spin our heads around to attention. When we lose our voices, we come to grips with the fact life doesn’t run solely on our voice. John reminds us to operate daily on the power of the Holy Spirit that is in us. He is louder than any volume we can conjure. In powerless …or voiceless …moments, tune into Him and follow His lead.

Set the Volume.

God doesn’t need to raise His voice to get our attention. He has poured His heart out to us in Scripture. Jesus made it accessible. The Holy Spirit makes it applicable. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, by Jesus’ death on the cross, we simply need to turn up the volume and tune out the competing chatter. God’s Word speaks loud. It rings in our ears and remains in our hearts when we make the effort to meet Him and maintain His focus throughout our days.

Repeat the Track.

He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. John 16:14 (NIV)

My kids wait until I reach that lest decimal before the speakers scratch and they remove their butts from whatever seat their stuck to, or fit their feet fleeting in the direction they knew they should have been heading in before the volume got turned all the way up.

As we pray for more of the Holy Spirit, we will have more jolting moments as we read through the pages of Scripture. Our feet will flit, and our butts will move. If we’ll keep going back to Him. Repeat the track of His Truth. In our powerless moments, He the same God.

Look at the Lyrics.

All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you. John 16:15 (NIV)

Sometimes we can sing along to songs before we know what we’re really singing about. We can like a song, but then when we look into the lyrics for the backstory, we love it even more. Or, maybe we stop listening altogether. God’s Word looks different, sounds different, and affects us differently when we pray from the unique power of His Holy Spirit to reveal what He’s speaking directly and individually to us through it. When we feel powerless, voiceless, or lost, we can undoubtedly rely on the power of God’s Word to direct our steps.

Father,

We praise You for Your powerful Word, and the Holy Spirit in us that reminds and reveals Your encouragement and direction to us. Thank You for the stories that give voice to our struggles, and the characters that we find camaraderie with in our daily lives. The miracle of Your Word is it’s stark reliability and relevancy.

There are times in life when we feel powerless and voiceless. When we encounter injustice and unfairness, help us to see our situation through the scope of Your lens, not our interpretations. May the Holy Spirit be upon us to reveal and direct us as we study Your Word and look to You there for counsel and wisdom.

Forgive neglecting to meet You in Your Word daily, and trying to rally the volume of our voices to solve problems, sway opinions, and get our way. We repent of any misleading, dishonest, or incorrect interpretations of Your Word, Father.

Bless our hearts with the peace that comes in meeting You in Your Word every day, and deflecting to Your voice over ours. May we tune into Your volume over our own, and hear You above all other noise. Help us to remain focused on You, and Your love, and extending that love to all who witness our lives.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen.

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