Rest (A Prayer)

Heavenly Father,

How majestic is Your name in all the earth!
None can match Your wisdom,
or plumb Your understanding.
The heavens sing of Your glory,
and the earth testifies to Your power and might.
Your deeds are all righteous.
Your dealings are all just.
Your goodness and kindness are unparalleled.
Your grace and mercy flow boundlessly,
and Your love never fails.

We marvel at Your glory, and find joy in Your presence.
For in Christ we have been given rest:
Rest from guilt for our sins,
…from shame at our brokenness,
…from needing to be good enough,
…from worry about our past
…and anxiety about our future.

We are so grateful for the blessing of that rest. We are grateful for the Spirit which not only announces the truth of that rest in Christ but brings and applies it to us personally, letting us begin to experience that rest now.

Despite the greatness of that gift and the relief and peace that it brings, so often we find ourselves not living in it.
We get caught up in the temptations, stresses, and problems of life. It speaks to how badly we need Your grace that we so readily ignore the rest You have given, and pick up and cling to the burdens that Jesus so mercifully freed us from.

Forgive us.

That is not who we are.
Nor is it who we want to be.
We are Your sons and daughters.
It is not sin that defines us and controls our destiny, but Christ and His grace.

We want to love you more.
We want to love Jesus more,
Your Spirit more;
even with our whole heart, soul, and mind.

For if we do that,
if we love You more fully,
more completely,
we will love one another better,
we will see the world and the people in it through Your eyes.
Loving You not only brings rest,
healing,
peace,
and joy to us,
but moves us to live out that love and grace to those around us in our marriages, homes, work, and life.

Drive the roots of Your grace deep into us.
Make us Your hands and feet.
Give us a longing for Your kingdom
and the humility,
wisdom,
love,
and grace necessary to follow Your Spirit in the work He is leading us to do.

May we not be distracted by wealth,
or politics,
or the ebb and flow of human opinion.
May we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus,
the Author and Perfector of our faith
and commit all we are to all He is.