Friday, January 9, 2015

Return, My Soul, to Your Rest--A New Year's Prayer



“Return, my soul, to your rest;
      the Lord has been very good to you.”
                -Psalm 116.7 (NABRE)

As the New Year begins, I have started to be more diligent than ever to guard my mind from worry and anxiety. There will always be more than enough issues of life offering stress; I simply want to decline that offer on a daily basis. In reality, I need to refuse stress and anxiety pretty well every hour!
A few months ago when I was doing my daily Scripture reading, Psalm 116.7 jumped out at me as never before. The Psalmist speaks to himself with the exhortation: Return, my soul, to your rest! Why? My soul can be at peace because God—in his goodness, power and providence—has been so good to me. I need to remind myself of this!

Toward that end, here is a prayer that I’ll be praying in the months ahead.

Return, My Soul, to your Rest

Gracious Lord, like Martha in the Gospels,
                I have become anxious about so many things.
     Projects to do, problems to solve, and people to serve—
                everything to be done is overwhelming!
Inside I am scattered, disquieted, unsettled;
                my thoughts dart about in my head.
     I’m afraid of missing opportunities or losing what I have;
                worry fills my heart more than I dare to admit.
Return, my soul, to your rest;
                leave behind your anxious thoughts and cares.
     The Lord has been so kind to you,
            providing for all that you need.
Be at peace, O my heart, in God’s goodness,
providing your needs and caring for you.
     Dwell secure in his power and protection,
surrounding and guarding you in all your ways.
Be at rest, O my thoughts, free from all worries
that distract you and weigh you down,
     For God has gone before you and prepared the way,
which will be opened to you in his time.


© 2015  Glenn E. Myers

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