How should a believer pray for a tragedy like the horrible flash flooding in Texas?

Of course, we know that natural disasters are not judgments from God today. How do we know this?

Paul tells us that during today’s “dispensation of the grace of God” He is “not imputing their trespasses unto them...”

2 Cor 5:19 tells us “that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them...”

He is not counting their trespasses (cf. Rom. 4:5-8). He is not charging people for their sins. He’s not telling people that their payment for those sins is due right now. He’s not raining fire down on cities like Sodom and Gomorrah, and He’s not causing flash flooding in Texas because He’s angry with the people.

This isn’t the OT under “the Law” given to Israel God’s not manipulating circumstances today like He did on occasion with Israel. Consider the big picture of Scripture. We are now living during an interruption of that old prophetic program. We’re just experiencing what it means to live in a sin-cursed world. Natural disasters happen. Flash floods happen in central Texas.

We have made available a new document that lists all the Pauline verses mentioning, referencing, or even implying prayer (with a handful of grace-based insights on prayer).

One of my favorite insights is how we should exhibit grace in our prayer lives.

Consider this prayer we offered up for the people of Texas:

Heavenly Father,

Our hearts break for those in Texas right now - for those affected, for those filled with anxiety waiting answers about their loved ones, for those grieving over the loved ones they lost – I just lift them all up to you. I hope that during all this chaos, and loss, and uncertainty, that the survivors will turn to your light in all that darkness. I pray they will turn to you and IN YOU they will feel your profound and divine peace – your peace that we all know surpasses understanding – and they will have peace as if you were standing right next to them. I truly hope that IN YOU they will feel that peace that can steady their hearts and minds and anchor their souls even when the world feels like it has crumbled around them.

I also pray that by turning to you, these survivors can find strength in all the ways your Word comforts all of us and that they will also find strength in your profound hope – that you’re your hope will keep them from despair like those who have no hope. I pray your hope found in your gospel will also remind them of your eternal promises for them and all the security they have in Christ, even during a tragedy like this.

I also pray, Father, that the survivors will personally feel your profound and unconditional love for them, that your love and your peace will guard their hearts through every moment of fear, grief, and exhaustion. I hope they will be reminded that in Your Son, they are not alone—and nothing can separate them from Your love even in tragedies.

And my prayer also is that they will find strength in your Word. They will experience power in your peace. They will feel comfort in all your hope. And they will feel empowered by your grace. I pray the truths of your Word will be their refuge and their strength, giving them divine resilience to endure the overwhelming challenges of recovery and rebuilding, both physically and emotionally. I pray they find in You and in Your Word a firm foundation when all the other foundations have been swept away.

I also pray, Father, that the rescue teams, the medical staff, and all the volunteers, that they will have clarity of mind, steady hands, and the resolve to help those in danger. I pray believers in Texas will also rise to the occasion fulfilling your will by helping and comforting with love those who are suffering and that they share the gospel and give people the hope of eternal life. I pray the saints in Texas will be shining examples of your love, your peace, and your comforting hope, that they will manifest all the attributes of your Son as they serve with humility. I pray they will meet the needs of others with grace and truth, that they will be acutely aware of the gentleness and the patience needed to see victims through this great trauma. I’m reminded of what Paul said in Gal. 6:10, As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. I pray the saints in Texas will feel emboldened to share Your calling in the gospel of grace – salvation by faith alone in Christ's finished work – as I’m sure people may be wrestling with questions and looking for answers. I pray those saints have the same mindset as Paul when he wrote, And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak (Eph 6:19-20).

In all of this, Father, we also genuinely praise you. We praise you for the fact that we know this isn’t judgment, that this is part of living in a sin-cursed world, and that everything about the gospel and the hope you’ve given us and the love you’ve shed abroad in our hearts is all meant to give us strength in times like these. We praise you for the fact that the children and teenagers who died are with you now. We also thank you for how tragedies like this remind us of how fragile life is. Again, I hope hearts are stirred to seek You out — to be reconciled to you and to find IN YOU all the hope and comfort they’ll ever need. I love that we can always be assured of your Son’s fixed all-encompassing sovereignty over all creation. I praise You, Father, for that fact that your grace and love can be so deeply felt even during tragedies like these, that Your unfailing love transcends earthly sorrows. I praise you for the fact that you are unchanging, faithful, never forsaking those who trust in You. I also praise you for the rich strength found in your Word, found in your attributes made alive in us, and how your strength through your grace gives us the resilience and the courage needed to face the worst that life may throw at us.

And finally, I praise you for the sure hope that is found in Your Son and for the glorious, finished work of Your Son on the cross. We praise You that though this world is fallen and we experience calamities; Your grace provides an eternal and enduring hope that transcends all earthly losses. May even this tragedy become an avenue for the Gospel of Grace to shine in the world, to bring true peace and hope to searching hearts.

We love you, Father. We praise you in the midst of all of this for all that you are, for all that you’ve done, and for all that you’ve given to us.

We ask all these things in the name of Your Son our Savior.

• As Adapted from Joel Hayes