His Promises
One of the greatest gifts I’ve ever received is the gift of being able to pray for others.
I can still remember those difficult and challenging seasons—times when life felt uncertain, heavy, and beyond what I could carry. And in those moments, people stepped into my life, into Laurie’s life, and they prayed. They prayed for God to intervene, for Him to heal, for Him to move in ways only He could. And what I experienced in those moments was something I’ll never forget. It was a blessing… a comfort… a strength that didn’t always change the situation, but it changed something in me. There was a peace that settled in, a reassurance that we were not alone, that God was present, and that He was at work.
As I began to grow in my faith, the Word of God became more and more alive to me. It wasn’t just something I read—it became something I held onto. A gift. A foundation. A place to return when everything else felt uncertain.
I remember hearing Pastor Ray Bentley speak about prayer in a way that deeply impacted me. He talked about coming before the throne of grace and making petitions on behalf of others. That even though we live here in the seen and the temporal, when we pray, we are actually stepping into something eternal—we are coming before God Himself. That truth changed how I saw prayer. It wasn’t just words spoken into the air; it was an invitation into His presence.
And then he shared something I’ve carried with me ever since.
He talked about taking the very promises of God—His words written in Scripture—and praying them back to Him. Almost like saying, “God, this is what You said. These are Your words. And so I am bringing them back to You, and I am asking You to move according to what You have already declared.”
But what I’ve come to understand over time is this—when we pray His promises, it’s not about trying to control the outcome or guarantee that the situation will change. Often, the situation doesn’t change right away… or at all in the way we expected. But something deeper is happening.
In the unseen, in the eternal, we are placing ourselves on His promises, on His truth, on His love.
And from that place, something shifts within us.
Our hearts begin to rest. Our perspective begins to steady. And even while we are still walking through very real circumstances in the seen and the temporal, we are no longer defined by them. We begin to walk with a peace that doesn’t make sense on the surface—a quiet confidence that God is at work, that He sees, that He knows, and that we can trust Him.
It becomes an expression of faith—not in what we can see, but in who He is.
And I look back now, and there’s one particular scripture that became etched into my heart. It became something I would return to over and over again—something I would pray in seasons of trial, over friends, over family, and even over my own life:
“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him.” — Nahum 1:7
This verse became more than something I read—it became something I leaned on.
And what’s amazing is that many years later, I was reminded of this very verse in the most unexpected way. Someone pointed out that it’s printed on the bottom of the cups and bags at In-N-Out. And I remember just smiling, thinking about how God weaves His truth into our lives in ways both profound and simple. Even in something as ordinary as grabbing a burger, there it was again—His promise.
A reminder that He is good.
A reminder that He is our stronghold in the day of trouble.
A reminder that He knows those who trust in Him.
And maybe that’s the invitation for all of us—to not just read His promises, but to rest in them, to pray them, and to trust that even when we cannot see what He is doing, He is still faithful.
Because His promises… are still true