Walking on Water

Based on the sermon, Walking on Water, found here - 
 https://kwssmithereens.blogspot.com/2026/08/walking-on-water_0780757995.html

DAY 1
Sent Into the Storm

Read: Matthew 14:22-23

"Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray."

Before the storm ever appears, Jesus does something easy to overlook: He sends the disciples out. 

This wasn't a mistake or an oversight on His part. 

He had just fed five thousand people, the crowds were electric with excitement, and in that very moment Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and go ahead of Him — knowing full well what was waiting for them on the water.

It's worth sitting with that. 

Obedience to Christ doesn't guarantee smooth water. 

Sometimes the very instruction that comes from His hand leads us directly into difficulty. 

The disciples weren't wandering off script when the storm hit; they were exactly where Jesus told them to be.

Meanwhile, Jesus withdraws to the mountain alone to pray. 

He isn't absent from the disciples' struggle — He's interceding for them, even while they can't see Him and don't yet understand where He is. 

His presence isn't measured by visibility.

Reflect: 

Is there a "boat" you're in right now — a place of obedience that has led to unexpected difficulty? 

What would it mean to trust that Jesus sent you there on purpose, and that His seeming absence isn't neglect?

Prayer: 

Lord, when obedience leads me into hard water, remind me that You sent me here and You have not stopped watching over me. Amen.


DAY 2
Battered But Not Abandoned

Read: Matthew 14:24

"But the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them."

Night has fallen. 

The disciples are far from shore, and the boat is being beaten — the Greek word suggests being tortured or tormented — by waves that keep coming. 

The wind isn't neutral; it's described as against them. 

This wasn't bad luck. 

It was resistance, straight on, hour after hour.

Anyone who has weathered a long season of hardship knows this feeling: the sense that everything is working against you, that relief isn't coming, that you're a long way from anywhere safe. 

Scholars note the disciples likely struggled against this storm for most of the night — some nine hours or more before Jesus appears in verse 25. 

That's a long time to row against a headwind with no sign of help.

What's notable is what the text doesn't say. 

It doesn't say Jesus was unaware. 

It doesn't say He forgot them. 

The distance and the darkness were real, but they were not the whole story — Jesus was coming. 

He just wasn't there yet.

Reflect: 

What does it feel like to be "a long way from land" in your own life right now? 

Where do you feel the wind is against you? 

Can you hold onto the truth that distance and darkness are not the same as abandonment?

Prayer: 

Father, in the long hours of struggle, help me trust that You see me even when I cannot see You. Amen.


DAY 3
"It Is I; Do Not Be Afraid"

Read: Matthew 14:25-27

"And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea... But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.'"

The fourth watch of the night was between 3 and 6 a.m. — the darkest, most exhausted hour, the time when hope is thinnest. 

That is precisely when Jesus comes.

And when He arrives, He doesn't come as expected. 

He walks on the very water that had been tormenting them, treating the chaos beneath His feet as ordinary ground. 

The disciples, understandably, are terrified — they think He's a ghost. 

Fear multiplies fear. 

But Jesus speaks first, before they can even process what they're seeing: "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid."

That phrase — "it is I" — echoes God's self-revelation to Moses at the burning bush: "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14). 

Jesus isn't simply announcing His arrival; He's declaring His identity. 

The One walking toward them across the impossible water is the same God who has always been sovereign over chaos, going back to the Spirit hovering over the waters at creation (Genesis 1:2).

Jesus doesn't calm the storm first and then come to them. 

He comes to them in the storm, before it ends.

Reflect: 

What would change if you believed Jesus comes to you in your storm, not just after it? 

What fears need to hear His voice saying, "It is I; do not be afraid"?

Prayer: 

Jesus, come to me in the middle of my storm. Let me recognize Your voice before I understand my circumstances. Amen.


DAY 4
The Step Out of the Boat

Read: Matthew 14:28-29

"And Peter answered him, 'Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.' He said, 'Come.' So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus."

Of all twelve disciples, only Peter asks. 

It's easy to focus later on his sinking, but don't skip past this moment first: Peter is the only one who says, "Command me to come to you." 

He doesn't ask to be rescued from the boat — he asks to walk toward Jesus, across the very water that had terrified them all night.

Notice the sequence. 

Peter doesn't climb out on his own initiative and hope for the best. 

He asks for a word, and Jesus gives one: "Come." 

Faith here isn't recklessness; it's responsiveness to Christ's specific invitation. 

And when Jesus says come, Peter goes — over the side of the boat, feet on water that should not hold him.

For however many steps he takes, it works. 

The impossible becomes momentarily ordinary because his eyes and his obedience are fixed on the One who called him.

Reflect: 

What is Jesus inviting you to do that requires leaving the relative safety of the boat? 

Are you waiting for His word, or are you waiting for the water to look safer first?

Prayer: 

Lord, give me the courage to get out of the boat when You call — not recklessly, but in response to Your voice. Amen.


DAY 5
When the Wind Gets Louder Than the Word

Read: Matthew 14:30-31

"But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, 'Lord, save me.' Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'"

Peter doesn't sink because the wind suddenly picks up — the storm had been raging the entire time. 

He sinks because his attention shifts. 

He sees the wind. 

He had been walking on the same turbulent water all along, but the moment his focus moves from Jesus to the danger around him, he begins to go under.

This is one of the most relatable moments in all of Scripture. 

Peter had already done the impossible — he was actually walking on water — and still fear took hold. 

Faith and fear can occupy the same moment; walking on water and sinking are separated by nothing more than where the eyes land.

But look at what happens next: Peter's small, desperate prayer — "Lord, save me" — is enough. 

He doesn't need a theological essay or a perfect confession. 

Three words, and Jesus's hand is already there. 

The text says Jesus reaches out immediately. 

There's no hesitation, no lecture before the rescue. 

The correction -"O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" - comes only after Peter is already secure in His grip.

Reflect: 

When has your attention shifted from Christ to the "wind" around you? 

Take comfort: Jesus's hand reaches for you the instant you cry out — the rescue always comes before the rebuke.

Prayer: 

Lord, save me. When I start to sink, let those three words be enough, and let me trust that Your hand is already reaching for me. Amen.


DAY 6
Worship in the Boat

Read: Matthew 14:32-33

"And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, 'Truly you are the Son of God.'"

The storm doesn't end the moment Jesus appears, or even the moment He takes Peter's hand. 

It ends when they get back into the boat together. 

There is a kind of grace in that timing — Jesus doesn't rush past the process of walking with Peter back to safety, back to the other disciples, back into community.

And then, finally, the wind ceases. 

What nine hours of rowing could not accomplish, His presence settles in an instant. 

The response of everyone in the boat is worship — not relief alone, not simply exhaustion giving way to calm, but recognition: "Truly you are the Son of God." 

This is the first time in Matthew's Gospel the disciples make this confession together. 

It took a night of terror, an impossible walk on water, and a sinking friend pulled from the deep for them to see clearly who was in the boat with them.

Often it is not the calm sea but the survived storm that produces the clearest worship. 

The disciples didn't come to this confession on a peaceful lake under a clear sky. 

They came to it soaked, exhausted, and undone — and utterly certain.

Reflect: 

Looking back on your own storms, where have you arrived at deeper worship because of what you walked through, not in spite of it? 

What would it look like to worship now, in the boat, before the wind fully ceases?

Prayer: 

Truly, You are the Son of God. Thank You for meeting me in the storm, taking hold of me when I sink, and bringing me safely back into the boat. May every storm I face lead me deeper into worship of You. Amen.