A Prayer for Peace Within
May 25, 2017
Prayer for peace is something we all want and need. And while we all crave different kinds of peace, perhaps one that we all struggle with most from time to time is inner peace–peace within. If so, today’s blog is for you. While I always encourage you to pray your own prayer, perhaps these thoughts will be helpful to you. It’s yet another one in a series of helpful prayers I’ve been sharing with you for a few weeks.
Is your heart troubled? Are you feeling like the psalmist, who asked his own soul, “Why are you in despair? And why have you become disturbed within me?” One of the hardest parts of knowing peace is understanding how it has nothing to do with control. If you’re having trouble with trust or finding the words to pray above the howling of the scary storms, feel free to offer up these words to the Lord now!
When Confusion Reigns
Oh Lord, sometimes my insides feel like a battle zone, where missiles are falling too close to home. Other times I’m caught in an endless storm, with thoughts flying out of control. Confusion reigns, and defeat creeps in to steal my joy. I need your peace—the deep-down-in-your-heart kind that stays with me day and night and speaks confidently into the wind. Calm my anxious spirit, Lord; all the attacking “if-onlys” and “what-ifs” fill me with needless worry.
I know that trust is a big part of experiencing peace and that fear has no place in my life. Most of the things I worry about or dread don’t even happen. So I’m declaring my trust in you. I’m releasing the reins of my life again and asking you to take control. I may need to pray this same prayer daily, but I’m tired of the frenzy of life that leaves my schedule and my thoughts without any margin. I need more of you, Lord, and less of me.
Finding Peace Within
I surrender and admit: I can’t control people, plans, or even all my circumstances, but I can yield those things to you, and focus on your goodness. Thank you today for every good gift you’ve given, every blessing you’ve sent, all the forgiveness I did not deserve, and, yes, for every trial you’ve allowed into my life. You bring good out of every circumstance if I’ll only let go and believe you. I know that when I pray and give thanks instead of worrying, you have promised that I can experience the kind of peace that passes all understanding. That’s your kind of peace, Lord. And it’s the kind I crave.
Whenever I’m stressed, anxious, or afraid, help me remember to run to you. You’re the only one that can calm my fears and end my fretful behavior. Whether in trivial or heavy matters, I know you will not only give me peace; Lord, you will be my peace. And when I draw close to you—in prayer, in reading your Word, in helping another, in taking my mind off myself—you will be there, up close and personal.
I can’t handle these times alone, Lord. Will you speak peace and calm my storms, or hold my hand while we walk through them together? Will you bring the reassuring wisdom of those who have come through similar times into my life? Thank you, Lord. I’m trusting you.
In the name of the One who makes the wind and the waves stand still, Amen.
© 2015, Rebecca Barlow Jordan
* Crosswalk first published this prayer of mine and added the beautiful video above. Since adding the video, I wanted to share the prayer again with you in its entirety.
It’s Your Turn
What about you? How has God brought you inner peace in difficult times? Are you struggling with peace right now? Is fear, confusion, or worry hovering over you? If so, we’d love to pray for you to experience that peace within. Share your comments below. Your words might encourage someone today!
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God Restores What We Abandon
April 21, 2017
Drooping. Lifeless. Abandoned. Destined for the trash. Appropriate word choices for the plant sitting on the bargain rack of our local home improvement garden section.
But you wouldn’t describe these flowering petunias with those same words, would you?
Yet that pathetic description fit this hanging plant perfectly when I bought it a couple of weeks ago. Could it bloom again? Would it form soft, lilac petals again on its tired, worn stems? Read more
When You Need God’s Divine Healing – A Personal Prayer
April 6, 2017
Are you struggling with illness, disease, or issues beyond your control and you desperately want God’s divine healing but don’t know how or what to pray? Use this prayer as a starting place if you are feeling alone, afraid, or unsure of the future.
God tells us that through prayer, He can speak to us and use us to work miracles for His glory. When you use this prayer for divine healing you are coming to God completely surrendered and expectant to let His Holy Spirit work in and through you. I pray that you will find miraculous healing as you seek God’s plan for your life – His plan to prosper you and to give you a hope and future! Read more
Finding God in the Garden
March 30, 2017
When springtime rolls around, it’s hard for me not to write about my favorite season. Visions of pink and blue hydrangeas, white gardenias, yellow daylilies, coral heuchera, and purple petunias dance in my head. Every year I save up for colorful replacements or new varieties.
There are some things about this time of year, however, that can destroy its beauty–if I let it.
You guessed it: weeds. You can tell by this picture in my backyard garden that some flowers are blooming. But most of those green shoots covering the ground and invading the good plants? Weeds! Unfortunately, just like most of the plants in my gardens, those weeds are perennial.
The sun may eventually kill the shallow ones, though my garden is mostly shady. And mulch will cover up some of the green invaders. But only for a while. Others will soon take their place. If I let them grow wild and don’t pull them out as soon as they pop up, they will soon choke out the beauty and the fragrance of my garden.
Finding God in the Garden
That’s true of my spiritual garden as well. Think about these areas of life and the power of weeds left untended: Read more
7 Benefits of Simplifying Your Life
March 23, 2017
Unfortunate circumstances may force us to simplify our lives. But we can also choose “voluntary simplicity” at any time. Here are seven benefits of simplifying your life: Read more
When You’re Craving God and His Blessing
March 9, 2017
When You’re Craving God
and His Blessing
by
Rebecca Barlow Jordan
Read more
Five Words That Can Change Your Life and the Lives of Others
March 2, 2017
I love words. Words can change your life and the lives of others. Words are my vocation, partly because of some encouraging words I received when I was only a senior in high school.
Years ago, a stranger clipped my senior picture from the local paper and enclosed it with a hand-written, encouraging note in the mail: “You have a beautiful smile.” Just five words–and a simple gesture that took maybe five or ten minutes, but can you guess I started flashing my pearly whites after that? Read more
Does God Remember You?
February 23, 2017
God Remembers You!
Have you ever wondered if God even remembers your name? How often does He think about you? What are His feelings for you? Read more
12 Things to Remember When You’re Between a Rock and a Hard Place
February 16, 2017
Have you ever experienced times that leave you hanging between a rock and a hard place: times of confusion, fear, sorrow, loneliness? Relationships may fail; precious dreams die. Winters appear bleak; answers won’t come. Our circumstances vary, but we all go through them.
Jesus’s Help in Hard Times
In those times I’ve learned to rehearse some things about God, times when Jesus has walked with me, held my hand, and brought me through the hard places. These are 12 things I can remember that keep me from being discouraged. And this list is only a small portion of what I’ve recorded in my memory bank from Jesus’s track record of faithfulness. Jesus’s help in hard times is readily available. (Be sure and enter the book/drawing/giveaway today by following the instructions below.) Read more
Do You Want This Kind of Love?
February 9, 2017
Whether you’re single or married, you are not alone in your desire to be loved.
Valentine’s Day can bring a smile to the faces of those who feel loved, or a deep longing in the hearts of those who don’t.
The truth is, people spend a majority of their lives searching for love that won’t fail, but many never find it.
Do you want this kind of love? It’s the kind of love that will always be there for you.
It’s the Valentine God sends to your heart every day, every year, all of your life. God’s love is the kind that never fails.
What is it like?
Is it too good to be true?
Is it so hard to believe that you are loved, really loved by Him?
Read the short poem below.
Then listen to the powerful words of the song following the poem.
Will you embrace His love?
You are so important to me! As an inspirational author and day-voted follower of Jesus, I love to paint encouragement on the hearts of others just like you.
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