A Prayer to Pray During a Setback - Your Daily Prayer - April 21

What to Pray During a Setback
By Meg Bucher

“Then he said to me, ‘This is what the LORD says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.” - Zechariah 4:6 NLT

The garage door slowly rose. I pulled in, put the car in park, and shut the engine off. Sitting, staring, and sobbing … After a string of good days, the past twelve hours felt like square one. I put myself on auto mode, walked into the house, placed my coffee on the counter, and stared at a chair. It seemed to pull me in for a good cry, and I listened. Loud, sad, cries of despair, as I fought to grip the hope of forward progress I had felt in the last few days. Those cries said better than any word count could.

Setbacks are hard. Setbacks snap us out of relief and back into fight or flight. A setback can threaten our thought life to believe the progress was a mirage. Setbacks make it seem like God isn’t listening, isn’t there, or doesn’t care. The verse from Zechariah reminds us of our weaknesses…and God’s strength. Setbacks are hard. But they aren’t permanent. Jesus is in it with us, compassionate towards our pain. For those experiencing a setback today…

Let’s pray:
Father,
Today, we feel stuck …setback …and discouraged. We come to You, perhaps without words at all, to describe our desperate need for You. God, You are faithful, full of mercy and compassionate towards us. When we hurt, we do so alongside a Savior who understands how we feel and is sympathetic to our pain. Oh, God, thank You for the friend we have in Jesus. We are a mess today, Father. Yet, You see us as the beautiful creation You knit inside our mother’s womb, with a specific purpose and unique gifts. The perfect Father, You are there for us in every way. Provider, Healer, and Defender, You love us fiercely. You are jealous for us!

God, though setbacks aren’t pleasant, we know You will pull us through them. Even though this one feels like it might take us out, we put our confidence in You. We choose to sit at Your feet and cry out in desperation, to the only One who perfectly and completely understands our souls and cares for our hearts. Father, repentance is hard. Hurt is hard. Pain which happens to us, and pain that we lump upon ourselves …is hard. Please soften our stubborn hearts as we sit and weep at Your feet, desperate for direction and hurting for encouragement. Help us to hear You, remember who You are, and Whose we are. 

Father, place Your word in our hearts and write it on our minds. For Your word is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. (Hebrews 4:12 NLT) You know us, fully. Lift our spirits and restore our hope, God, to see this setback for what it is …temporary. Help us to confidently trust You, and cling to the Hope we have in Christ Jesus. You promised us a difficult journey on earth, but You also promised a full life. Full of joy, peace, contentment, forgiveness, and love. Help us to embrace You as You bring us back to the place of progress.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen. 

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Cecilie Arcurs

Meg is a graduate of Ashland University. She is a writer, author, editor, and digital content creator. She stepped away from her job in Internet Marketing in 2008 to raise her daughters, which gave her passion for writing a chance to shine through her blog, Sunny&80… Life within the Love of Christ. Meg has served as a Children’s Worship Team Leader and Middle School Leader for her local church. She founded and led the Breakfast Club Bible Study for Tweens, has served as a Young Life Leader and Committee Member, and led Women’s Bible Study. She has also volunteered as a content creator for her local church, studied Bible/Ministerial Training through Global University, completed COMPEL PRO Writers Training, and is Ethically AI Certified. A contributing writer for Salem Web Network since 2016, Meg is now thrilled to be a part of the team at Salem Web Network. You can find her entire library of books on her Amazon Author Page. 

Related Resource: Establishing a Routine of Rest

For a long time, rest felt less like a gift and more like a guilty indulgence — something to be earned, something to feel vaguely ashamed of, something that productive, faithful people did not really need. In a world that measures worth by output, the idea of stopping feels dangerously close to falling behind.

But what if rest is not optional? What if it was never meant to be? Tonight, lay down the hustle. Receive the gift. This is exactly what you were made for. Your Nightly Prayer is a daily Christian prayer podcast from the LifeAudio Podcast Network and Crosswalk.com. Each night, the team behind Crosswalk.com brings you a devotional and prayer to help you end your day in conversation with God. May these nightly prayers help you find the words to pray and focus your heart and mind on the love of God as you end your day. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!