Peace and getting closer to God
Oh, Lord,
I pray and ask for your presence.
Draw near to me,
to be with me in my troubles,
to comfort me in my sadness.
Is that a silly prayer?
It’s helpful to me, but I guess it’s not accurate.
You never leave me.
You’re always present.
I’m the one who wanders,
who gets lost,
who struggles to find my way back to you.
I feel the unrest, anxiety, and turmoil
of being a soul out of sync with your Spirit.
When I feel tossed about,
it’s not because you’re not here.
It’s because I’ve taken my eyes off you;
I’m looking at the storms all around me;
I’m asking for peace while I welcome chaos.
Lord, I fix my eyes on you.
There is peace in your presence because you are faithful.
Everything else is a wicked and pointless pursuit of self.
Forgive me and change me, O God.
I’m yours.
Heal me,
use me,
guide me,
restore me,
change me.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
“I have sen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him, creating praise on the lips of the mourners in Israel. Peace, peace, to those far and near,” says the Lord. “And I will heal them.” But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” (Isaiah 57:18-21)
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
