It seems that, for various reasons, many people have trouble sleeping. I have conversations with people who tell me that anxious thoughts or restless stretches through the night make it very difficult to get a peaceful sleep. When we cannot rest well, it makes facing a new day even harder. I recall someone who really did struggle to get sleep telling me that she had discovered a verse of Scripture that she found helpful and reassuring. This verse comes from Psalm 4:8, “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for You alone , LORD, make me dwell in safety.” The same Psalm begins with these words, “Answer me when I call to You, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.” (Psalm 4:1) When we come to God in prayer, we can be confident that He hears us. We can trust Him with the answers and find peace that only God can give. Whatever we are facing, my prayer is that we will discover peace from God and be able to rest in this truth, “In peace will I lie down and sleep, for You alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.” Again this week, it is our privilege to bring our prayers to God and to receive peace from Him. We pray for His peace for everyone who turns to him for answers. Please join us for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow, Wednesday September 9th at 1 pm. Here is a prayer that we can pray together and then welcome God’s peace and rest:
Our God who loves and cares for us, thank You that You never get tired of hearing from us. You completely understand all that is going on in our world and in our lives. You know the times when anxious and restless thoughts make it so difficult to find peace. We come to You today wanting to release to You our cares and to find relief from our distress. We are calling to You LORD because there is no one else who can bring the answers we need. Our God of grace, we have been praying for safety for ourselves and our families and friends. We continue to offer this prayer in the midst of the threat of this pandemic. We thank You for the safety we have experienced and pray that safety will extend for everyone as this virus is brought under control. LORD, please increase our compassion for others in the anxious thoughts that they carry. Give us ears to hear what Your Spirit wants to say to us in this time. We think now of all who are worried about going back to school. We ask You to guide the process that will help to ensure safety. We pray that necessary learning will take place. We pray that we will be open to learn what You want to teach us each day. And LORD, we think now of all those who find being apart from people such a lonely time. We ask You to come near and to surround with Your Presence. We thank You for those who have some people they can be close with and we cherish those people. Help us LORD to have patience when we are spending extended times with people. Increase our understanding of each other. We pray that we will discover things about each other that will deepen our love and give us insight when we pray. We come to You our God so grateful that we can rest in You and trust You with every care. And when You answer our prayers for peace whatever we are dealing with, we ask that we will then be those who offer Your care concern for others. We want people to dare to believe that You can provide rest and peace because they witness us receiving Your rest and peace. When we find ourselves troubled and uncertain, we pray that You will remind us to depend on You. The world around us is troubled our God. You are well aware of this, We pray that You will be at work in us and through us to bring understanding and peace from you wherever it is needed. We commit ourselves to keep looking to You to be Who we need in every circumstance. We give You thanks and praise and for You alone our LORD make us dwell in safety. We offer this prayer in the name of Jesus our Saviour who does provide both peace and rest. AMEN.