a prayer for peace...

Lord, I love you.  You amaze me the way you love me in spite of myself; the way my hurting heart can rely on you when I face stressful situations; the way the chains that bind me can be broken in an instance if only I'll surrender. I need you right now.  I need to be reminded that mercy and a gentle spirit are prized by you.  I must saturate myself in your love and your teaching and not be satisfied with spiritual mediocrity.  Lead me to a book you'd like me to learn from; lead me to your presence everyday with an anxious spirit and a willing heart and, most of all, lead me to the cross, to the place where my sins were paid for and the burden on my back can be dumped.  It's only when I stay with you at the foot of that cross that I find the perfect stature for worship, the gentle cleansing of my sin and the wide covering from the torments of the world and the shame of my soul.

Teach me to remember daily how much you love me...how much I mean to you.  Because, it's in this remembrance, that my soul is touched and my heart is renewed.

Again, I love you.  Amen.