A Prayer for Building Courage and Self-Confidence - Your Daily Prayer - September 6

A Prayer for Building Courage and Self-Confidence
By Emma Danzey

Bible Reading
“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” - 1 Corinthians 15:58

We all deal with a variety of insecurities and doubts. However, the Lord already knows them. Think about all of the many people in the Bible who wrestled with fear and insecurities: Gideon, Peter, Jonah, and Moses (to name a few). Courage and confidence are things we, with the help of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word, can build. There is a difference between earthly pride and Christ-like confidence. Pride is self-reliance and sinful vanity, but Christ-like confidence is a secure identity in Jesus lived out by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

What are your greatest insecurities right now? What causes you to feel weak or insignificant? Take these lies to the Lord today. Process your fears with Him; He already knows them, but He wants to hear from your heart and empower you to be an overcomer through Him. Maybe you have given up and believed that you cannot have courage and will never have confidence. Tell Him that. This is not true of you in Christ. He says in Romans 8:37, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” If you are in Christ, you are more than a conqueror. Do not give up hope. 

Today, as we pray through today’s prayer, may we remember that Christ has called us to stand firm and be unmoved by the trials and obstacles in this world. We are each uniquely gifted for kingdom work for eternity, and the Lord is with us. When we do things in His strength and for His glory, it is never in vain. He has a purpose and even can use us in the midst of our weaknesses. He can receive so much glory when we humbly say yes to Him.

Let's pray:

Dear Jesus,
Thank You for caring for our needs. Thank You for being willing to meet us in our insecurities, fears, doubts, and defeat. Help us to realize the lies that we have believed. We confess that we so often do not trust You or believe you. We buy into the enemy’s lies about us. We forget who we are in You. Forgive us for trusting our sinful hearts over You. Jesus, You have proven Yourself trustworthy. You are the One who calls us chosen, co-heirs, adopted, and friends. Help us to live out of who You say that we are and not the lies that we believe.

We pray that You would build our courage and self-confidence as You did with so many people in the Bible. You tell us in Jeremiah 17:7 that we are blessed when we trust in You when our confidence is in You. You tell us in 2 Timothy 1:7 that You gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Psalm 27:3 reminds us that even “though an army encamps against us, our hearts shall not fear; though war arise against us, yet we will be confident.” We pray boldly these Scriptures over our lives. We ask that You would empower us by Your Word and give us peace to walk forward. You tell us to put on Your armor, which includes the shoes of peace. Shoes indicate walking and moving forward. May Your peace remind us that we can move ahead with Your strength even when we are afraid because we know that You never leave us.

We pray against the fiery darts of lies from the enemy. We ask that You would give us the Holy Spirit power to combat these lies with Your Word. Heal us from the moments of failures and weakness in the past. Remind us that You are the God of second chances who gives us new opportunities to trust you and be courageous again. Thank You, Lord, for giving us courage and self-confidence in Christ. Amen.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Kamonwan Wankaew

Emma Danzey’s mission in life stems from Ephesians 3:20-21, to embrace the extraordinary. One of her greatest joys is to journey with the Lord in His Scriptures. She is wife to Drew and mom to Graham. Emma serves alongside her husband in ministry, she focuses most of her time in the home, but loves to provide articles on the Bible, life questions, and Christian lifestyle. Her article on Interracial Marriage was the number 1 on Crosswalk in 2021. Most recently, Emma released Treasures for Tots, (Scripture memory songs) and multiple books and devotionals for young children. During her ministry career, Emma has released Wildflower: Blooming Through Singleness, two worship EP albums, founded and led Polished Conference Ministries, and ran the Refined Magazine. You can view her articles on her blog at emmadanzey.wordpress.com and check out her Instagram @Emmadanzey.

Editor's Note: We're proud to announce we've just launched a new nighttime companion to Your Daily Prayer: the Your Nightly Prayer devotional. You'll soon be able to subscribe to receive Your Nightly Prayer via email, or as a podcast, but for now you can find it on the website at crosswalk.com/devotionals/your-nightly-prayer. We hope it's a relaxing and soothing way to wind down your day with rich meditations on who God is.

Related Resource: Jesus Calling - Stories of Faith

Kerry Washington. Andrea Bocelli. Reba McEntire. Mark Wahlberg. Tony Dungy. Matthew McConaughey, What do all of these people have in common? They are all people of faith who have leaned on God in both the good and challenging times—and they’ve shown up to tell their story of faith on The Jesus Calling Podcast. The Jesus Calling Podcast provides a place for people from all walks of life to share the heartaches, joys, and divine moments that keep them going. 

Inspired by Sarah Young's classic devotional book, the Jesus Calling podcast has brought encouragement and peace to millions. New episodes drop every Thursday! Listen today on LifeAudio.com or wherever you find your podcasts.

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