“Lord, save me!”
- Feb 21, 2025
- 6 min read
Matthew 14:30: 'But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”'
We talked about the ‘walk of faith’ last week. The real faith journey is for anyone going on to be made perfect in Christ’s love.
Warren Wiersbe said, “Faith is not believing in spite of evidence, but obeying in spite of consequence.”
In a move of faith, Peter stepped out of the boat! Then as our text refers,"Peter saw the wind, became afraid and began to sink" (v30).
Thinking about this like many other faith journeys, why didn’t Jesus stop the wind before Peter even stepped out of the boat? But then how would faith have been measured?
Campbell Morgan states, “Faith is the venture that steps off the tangible; and in the doing of it, demonstrates to its own soul the reality of the intangible.”
Can I just say, the Christian we were seven weeks ago (start of the year) should not be the Christian that we are now, today! The thing is, the Christian that we are today should not be the Christian we will be in seven weeks from now. Jesus never wants you to stay the same, He wants you to be taking steps closer to Him - having a living faith, trusting in Him every day. So, how is your journey of faith going?
Back to our story...
No sooner had Peter made that step away from, or ‘off the tangible,’ he saw the elements more than Jesus. Peter began to sink because he took his eyes off the Lord and began to look at the situation and circumstances around him.
I’m not unaware of the difficulty we all have in trying to keep focused on Jesus. We end up being a wind or storm watcher and find ourselves sinking, rather than a faith walker and find ourselves trusting.
Right now, what has got your attention more than Jesus; what’s caused the distraction in your life?
What Peter experienced is no less than miraculous. He literally walked on water. But something happened when Peter was out there. No more boat, just wind, waves and worry! He quickly became aware he was in between the safety of the boat and the saving of the Lord.
‘He saw the wind.’ How is the wind seen? The wind can be heard, its effects seen, but the wind itself cannot be seen. Yet Peter, the fisherman, was reminded of what it can do and indeed what he couldn’t do.
M Lloyd-Jones writes, “That is always the trouble with weak faith, it comes back again to question which it has already solved and answered.”
Peter didn’t see the water, the waves; he saw the wind. Peter, overwhelmed with the unseen, began to focus on the storm and not the Saviour. Peter simply forgot to remember! He forgot to remember the One who invited him to COME!
Peter was overwhelmed by what surrounded him, instead of the One who had called him, the One who had spoken to him, the One who he had placed his faith in. Peter had already seen the wind and the waves before putting his foot on the water, apparently trusting Jesus’s word more than the storm. But then he must have thought again.
Raymond Edman once said, "Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light.”
Focused people must learn what not to focus on. One of the things you shouldn’t keep focussed on is the winds in life. When you focus on the issues that stand in your way, you soon move towards something called panic. Peter started to panic when he saw the winds.
When Peter looked away from the Lord he saw the power of the wind, and Matthew tells us, “he was afraid” (v30). And then he began to sink.
Charles Spurgeon pointed out, “Peter was nearer his Lord when he was sinking than when he was walking.”
And the same is often true for us. Many times, the Lord allows the storms of life to come into our lives so that we echo the words of Peter, “Lord, save me!”
Peter had been walking on water, safe in the power of Jesus, but his own doubts and fears and lack of faith got in the way of trusting Jesus. It was his own doubts and fears that led him to sink and the need to be saved.
Sure, we know that Jesus is able, don't we? He's able to save, and if you're not saved, you need to know that. Hebrew 7:25 says, "He is able to save completely those that come to him."
You're able to walk a holy life because Christ is alive and He's able to keep you. The Christian life is hard, but it's not too hard. Paul said:"For I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day" (2 Tim 1:12).
He's not only able to save and able to keep, but He's able to do the impossible!
Three simple words are the basis of one of the most powerful, simplest prayers: “Lord, save me!” These communicate the vastness of our need and the call to the only one able to effect change and meet that need!
“Lord, Save Me”
"Lord," in Greek is "kurios" and means "one who has control!" It's from a word that means "supremacy!"
The verb "Save" is "sozo" and means "to deliver." But it brings with it several word pictures too. If one is sick, "sozo" means to make well! If one is under siege "sozo" means to deliver or bring about victory in defeating the enemy! If one is alienated, "sozo" means to make peace!
Would you say the same prayer, “Lord, save me”?
It’s a prayer that declares how weak and limited we are. We are basically telling God that we need Him to rescue us because we cannot escape this dire situation on our own. As long as you have a heart to pray, God has an ear to hear. We have to be honest, sinking times are praying times!
Peter drowning, cried for help from Jesus. Have you made a mistake, got lost or distracted? Don’t hesitate to call out to Him to save you. Don’t ever think you’re unworthy to be saved by Him, or you’re too far gone to be saved. Jesus is compassionate and merciful, full of love for all of us. Psalm 50:15 says, “Call on Him and He will answer you and deliver you in the time of trouble.”
It’s a ‘not too late’ prayer.
The Psalmist knew:“Your path led through the sea, Your way through the mighty waves– a pathway no one knew was there!” (Ps 77:19).
"A pathway no one knew was there." Wow! Please listen and let this thought reassure you right now.
Pray the ‘not too late’ prayer.
It is surely no accident that one of the shortest prayers in Scripture is about the largest problem in human experience, that of life or death for both time and eternity. After all, people in a desperate situation do not have much time to pray!
E. R. Havergal reminds us, "I have lost that weary bondage of doubt, and almost despair, which chained me for so many years. I have the same sins and temptations as before, and I do not strive against them more than before, and it is often just as hard work. But whereas I could not before see why I should be saved, I cannot now see why I should not be saved if Christ died for sinners. On that word, I take my stand and rest there."
This gospel message has been given to the whole world for nearly 2000 years, and the promise still remains that,"everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Rom 10:13 ). Or, 1 Timothy 1:15 states,“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.”
When the world and circumstances around me beat me down, and I’m feeling hopeless and helpless, my Saviour reassuringly tells me, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).
It’s a ‘not too late’ prayer to pray
“Lord, save me!”
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