An Exercise of Your Faith - Jesus Walks On Water

"And having sent the people away, He went up the mountain by Himself to pray." - Matthew 14:23

This message will be different than the rest and not intended to be read quickly, but to be read when you have time to think about it. We all want to be closer to God and have deeper faith and the only way to achieve this is through meditation. Meditation is not easy because our minds get noisy and it's easy to lose focus of what you're trying to reach. I picked a passage that will serve as a great backdrop for a meditation session. God gave us our imaginations and as we begin to create the following images in our minds, He will be there to guide us through and give us the blessings we need to see Him more clearly.

The passage I have chosen is of Jesus walking on water. He had been away at the mountain praying all night and then made His way over to the apostles who were on a boat. Just as Jesus was at the beginning of this passage, alone praying by Himself, so should you be when you do this exercise.

Matthew 14:23-31

"At nightfall, He was there alone. Meanwhile, the boat was very far from land, dangerously rocked by the waves for the wind was against it.

At daybreak, Jesus came to them walking on the lake. When they saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, thinking that it was a ghost. And they cried out in fear. But at once Jesus said to them, 'Courage! Don't be afraid! It's me!' Peter answered, 'Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you walking on the water.' Jesus said to him, 'Come.' And Peter got out of the boat, walking on the water to go to Jesus. But, in face of the strong wind, he was afraid and began to sink. So he cried out, 'Lord, save me!' Jesus immediately stretched out His hand and took hold of him, saying 'Man of little faith, why did you doubt?'"


Now, instead of Peter, it is you sitting on a chilly night on a boat while you wait for Jesus to come to you. The winds have picked up and are pushing against you for what seems like hours, just like the trouble and sorrows in your life that seem endless. Finally, when you thought you couldn't hold on any longer, you see Jesus, radiant in white, coming to you, walking on the water but with His eyes fixed on going to help you in your time of need. Holding on to your faith, but yet still afraid, you call out to the Lord and ask Him to help you get to where He is, and instead of doubting, you want Him to fill you with strength and faith so that you too can walk with Him. Jesus smiles at you, motions with His hands and says, "come." But it's not easy, you try but your problems bring you down. You fall back into the same addictions. Your financial situation brings you down and you can't think about anything else but your own worries and your own fears…and then you take your eyes off of Jesus and start to sink. But when you realize you need His help and despite the storm, you cry out to the Lord to be saved. Lovingly, Jesus is right there to pull you up by your hands and save you. Now He's holding you in His arms and you feel His embrace, His love for you, His care, His mercy, and He looks at you in the eyes and asks you, "why did you doubt?"

You will have your own answer to give to Jesus at this point, but the idea is to close your eyes and envision this, envision Him saving you in this storm and continue the dialogue with Him.

Today's prayer is that you take 20 minutes to practice this exercise in meditation and meet with the Lord who is waiting to save you on the boat and carry you through the storm to where He is.