Lord of the Unmoved Heart and the Unbroken Promise,
You sent a simple command into a proud palace,
and the answer was scorn.
Pharaoh’s heart grew harder,
the burdens heavier,
and the people’s hope thinner than straw.
Teach me that the first steps of obedience
can sharpen the conflict.
That sometimes doing Your will
makes life feel worse before it feels free.
Hold my questions as You held Moses’
“Why have You sent me if this is the result?”
Answer not with dismissal,
but with the reminder of who You are.
When the work grows harder,
keep me from accusing You of neglect.
When leaders mock
and the very people I came to help turn on me,
steady my lips to speak Your word again.
Show me that You measure deliverance
not by the moment’s relief
but by the certain end You have already secured.
Your plans are not undone
by the arrogance of rulers
or the impatience of the rescued.
Give me the faith to stand firm
between promise and fulfillment,
trusting that the One who sends
is the One who will finish the work.
In the name of Jesus,
the greater Moses,
who obeyed through suffering
to bring His people out,
Amen.