“Lord, thank You for Your unfailing, never-ending promise that no matter how hard and hectic this life is I can look forward to complete peace and absolute joy when I make it home. Jesus, be my strength and joy today. Fill me with Yourself and be glorified in me. Let others see You in me…in spite of my talent to get in the way of their view.” ~ February 16, 2007

“Lord, I ache today. Please surround me with Your love and fill me with You. Touch my heart and let Your joy be my strength. Carry me close to You. Thank You, Jesus, for Your faithfulness. And thank You that I can trust You with my life!” ~ May 12, 2008
(These prayers from my journal are not meant to be an expression of any personal issues; but rather are being shared in the hopes that someone else can possibly relate to them, make them their own, and be encouraged.)

For those who are worn out, overwhelmed or just need to feel God’s gentle peace:
The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace. Psalm 29:11

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Psalm 68:19

Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:7-8

When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your love, O Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul. Psalm 94:18-19

For those who are filled with longing:
The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. Psalm 145: 17-19

for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Psalm 107: 9

Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:23-26

For those who need filled with the Lord’s joy:
Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name. Psalm 97:11-12

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Psalm 46:4-5 (This is one is a personal favorite.)

For everyone:
Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth. Hosea 6:3

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:16-19

May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance. 2 Thess. 3:5

“He is not all we would ask for (if we were honest), but it is precisely when we do not have what we would ask for, and only then, that we can clearly perceive His all-sufficiency. It is when the sea is moonless that the Lord has become my Light.” ~ Elisabeth Elliot

“My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.”