Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:7
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Welcome back to 31 Days of Prayer for Estranged Family and Friends—a journey of surrender, healing, forgiveness, and restoration.
Yesterday, we began by doing something very simple.
We planted seeds.
The echinacea represents the healing we’re praying for throughout this journey.
And the mustard seed reminds us of faith—faith that doesn’t have to begin enormous or fearless, but can begin as something very small that we place into God’s hands.
We also planted something else yesterday.
A prayer.
We wrote down the name of someone we love and prayed:
“Father, I place __________ into Your hands.”
And today we’ve come back.
Maybe you looked at the soil this morning and saw…
nothing.
No sprout.
No leaf.
No visible evidence that anything has changed.
And that makes these little pots the perfect place to begin Day Two.
Because today we’re talking about trusting what we cannot see.
The Lesson Beneath the Soil
If you’ve ever planted a garden, you know that one of the first things gardening teaches you is patience.
We place a seed into the ground.
We cover it.
We water it.
And then…
we wait.
We don’t normally expect to come outside the following morning and find a mature plant waiting for us.
We understand that something has to happen first.
The seed takes in moisture.
The seed coat begins to soften.
Eventually a tiny root begins reaching downward.
Only later does a shoot begin making its way toward the light.
For a time, some of the most important development is happening entirely out of sight.
And yet, if we judged the seed only by what we could see above the soil, we might conclude:
Nothing is happening.
I think we do that with prayer sometimes.
Especially when we’re praying for a broken relationship.
We pray…
and then we look for evidence.
Did they call?
Did they send a message?
Did their attitude change?
Did someone tell us they were asking about us?
Has the situation improved at all?
And when the answer is no, discouragement can creep in.
We begin wondering whether our prayers are accomplishing anything.
But our Scripture today reminds us:
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” — 2 Corinthians 5:7
Faith doesn’t require us to pretend we see something that isn’t there.
Faith allows us to say:
“I don’t see anything yet—and I still trust God.”
When Silence Feels Like an Answer
Silence can be especially painful in estrangement.
When you love someone and don’t hear from them, silence can begin telling you stories.
They don’t care.
They’ll never come back.
Nothing will ever change.
It’s too late.
God isn’t doing anything.
But silence doesn’t actually tell us any of those things.
Silence simply tells us that right now, we don’t know.
We don’t know what God may be doing in another person’s heart.
We don’t know what conversations they may be having.
We don’t know what memories they may be revisiting.
We don’t know what circumstances God may eventually use.
And we don’t know how long their own journey may take.
That’s one reason I don’t want this 31-day devotional to become a countdown.
We’re not saying:
“If I pray faithfully for 31 days, this person will contact me by Day 31.”
Prayer isn’t a way of controlling another person’s choices.
These 31 days are about faithfully bringing the situation before God while allowing Him to work in our hearts too.
And perhaps some of His deepest work during this journey will happen somewhere we weren’t expecting.
Look for the Roots, Not Just the Flowers
When we think about restoration, we naturally imagine the flower.
The phone call.
The embrace.
The apology.
The restored relationship.
The happy ending.
But before a plant produces a flower, it needs roots.
And roots aren’t particularly impressive to look at.
Most of the time, we can’t even see them.
But without them, the plant cannot survive.
Maybe God is growing roots right now.
Perhaps He’s teaching you patience.
Perhaps He’s exposing bitterness that needs healing.
Perhaps He’s teaching you how to love someone without trying to control them.
Perhaps He’s preparing you to listen differently if a conversation eventually happens.
Perhaps He’s strengthening your relationship with Him while you’re waiting for another relationship to change.
Those things may not look like the answer you were hoping for.
But they are still growth.
And sometimes God develops the roots before He allows us to see the flower.
The Mustard Seed Reminder
Take another look at our mustard seeds.
Jesus used something tiny to teach us about faith.
Yesterday we talked about faith as small as a mustard seed.
Today I want us to remember something else about that little seed.
Its size doesn’t reveal everything it can become.
And perhaps your circumstances today don’t reveal everything God may yet do either.
Maybe your hope feels tiny.
Maybe your faith feels fragile.
Maybe you’re simply showing up for Day Two because you promised yourself you would.
That’s enough for today.
Bring God what you have.
You don’t need enough faith for the next 31 days.
You only need enough faith for today.
Today’s Action — Don’t Dig Up the Seed
Our action today is very simple.
We’re going to resist the urge to dig up the seed.
And I don’t just mean the seeds in these pots.
I mean the prayer we planted yesterday.
Try not to spend today searching for signs that something has changed.
Don’t measure God’s faithfulness by whether the phone rings.
Don’t repeatedly check for a message.
Don’t interpret silence as an ending.
Whenever your mind begins asking,
“But is anything happening?”
replace that question with this prayer:
“God, I trust You with what I cannot see.”
If you’re keeping a journal with this series, write that sentence beneath yesterday’s prayer.
God, I trust You with what I cannot see.
And perhaps underneath it write:
What might God be growing in me while I wait?
Don’t worry if you don’t have an answer yet.
Just leave some space.
We have 29 more days together.
Today’s Prayer
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father,
Yesterday I placed someone I love into Your hands.
And today I confess that part of me wants to take the situation back.
I want to see evidence.
I want reassurance.
I want to know that something is changing.
I want to know how this story ends.
But Your Word tells me that we walk by faith and not by sight.
So Father, teach me to trust You in the silence.
When I cannot see anything changing, keep me from assuming that nothing can change.
When fear tells me that the story is already over, remind me that I do not know tomorrow.
When impatience tells me to force something, give me wisdom to wait.
And when discouragement tells me that prayer is pointless, draw me back into Your presence.
Father, work in the heart of __________.
Protect them.
Guide them.
Heal the wounds that need healing.
Surround them with truth.
And accomplish Your good purposes in their life.
But while I am asking You to work in them, please work in me too.
Grow roots in me.
Deep roots of faith.
Deep roots of patience.
Deep roots of forgiveness.
Deep roots of humility.
Deep roots of trust.
Prepare me for whatever You have ahead.
I don’t need to see beneath the soil to know that roots can grow there.
And I don’t need to understand everything You are doing in order to trust You.
So today I place __________ into Your hands again.
I surrender my need for evidence.
I surrender my timeline.
I surrender the things I cannot know.
And I choose to pray:
God, I trust You with what I cannot see.
Give me faith today—even if it is only the size of a mustard seed.
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen.
Before you go today, take one more look at our seeds.
Maybe there’s nothing to see yet.
That’s okay.
The echinacea still reminds us that we’re praying for healing.
The mustard still reminds us to have faith, even when that faith feels very small.
And today, the soil reminds us that unseen does not necessarily mean inactive.
So we’re not going to dig up the seed.
We’re going to water it.
We’re going to tend it.
And we’re going to wait.
Tomorrow, for Day Three, we’re going to turn our attention away from the person we’ve been asking God to change and pray one of the bravest prayers in this entire journey:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart.”
Until then…
Plant the prayer. Tend your heart. Have faith—even if it’s only the size of a mustard seed. And trust God with the growth.
And as always,
may your roots grow deep and your spirit stay nourished.
God bless you, and I’ll see you tomorrow.
