Peace for Busy Spring Days - Your Nightly Prayer - April 24th

Greg Grandchamp

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Your Nightly Prayer

Peace for Busy Spring Days
Your Nightly Prayer
By Greg Grandchamp

TONIGHT’S SCRIPTURE

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast… because they trust in you.” - Isaiah 26:3

SOMETHING TO PONDER

We live in an era of never-ending busyness. We rush from one thing to another and still feel like we left something undone. The longer days of Spring give way to adding extra to-dos to our list, which simply adds to the turmoil. Extra chores, extra yardwork. More groups. More sports. The holiday chaos seems to collide with summer planning, and we get an odd blend of pressure and joy over the end of winter. Parents get weary, and kids get antsy – ready to get going and take on the world – and even our normal routines start to feel pushed aside. “I don’t have time” has become our new mantra. An autoplay response. Something we say almost reflexively. “I don’t have time to read, I don’t even have time to think.” “I don’t have time to sit with my kids and do nothing.” “I don’t have time to sit and read the Bible and pray.” It has become a story that we seem to embrace – that we have convinced ourselves of. Except…we do have a choice.

God never intended for us to live in such a constant state of anxiety. In fact, quite the opposite. God intended for us to experience peace and joy – not just when we step into eternity, but right now. Here. In this life. In Philippians 4:6, Paul tells the church at Philippi, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” We can choose His peace. His comfort and joy. We can choose to immerse ourselves in Him rather than what is going on around us. Rather than the faster and faster pace of this life highway, we can choose to take an off-ramp – and take up the easy yoke of Jesus. Jesus promises us that in Him, we will find rest for our souls. (Matthew 11:29-30)

The answers are not as challenging as we might think or imagine. They are within our grasp. In fact, as they say, the answer is quite simple; not easy, but simple. In his book, “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry”, John Mark Comer quotes his friend John, who says, “At this point in my life, I’m just trying not to miss the goodness of each day, and bring my best self to it.” Who among us can say that we daily find the goodness of each day? Of course, we all know what we have read and heard hundreds of times about starting each day in prayer and studying God’s word. And those aren’t wrong, but to have an impact on how we live, it must be more than that. We need to choose to live our lives in a way that will most certainly bring us peace and joy – by growing closer and closer to Jesus and by “abiding in Him.” We can choose to live our lives centered around Christ – not just believing, but by truly experiencing His love, joy, and peace. And joy becomes less of a moment-to-moment feeling, but rather an anchor for our soul – an innate sense of whose we are. The impact on our lives – on our relationships – will be significant and meaningful.

YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER

Father,
Help me to find the peace and joy you have promised us. Help me to abide in Jesus. And when I’m feeling anxious about my time and my to-do list, help me to remember to turn to you to remove the anxiety from me so I can find the goodness in each and every day.
Amen.

THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON

Comer offers a few suggestions as to how to begin our new life – and it starts with how we drive. Comer says to stay in the slow lane, drive the speed limit, and come to a complete stop at stop signs.
Live your life abiding in Jesus. When you feel anxious and like you simply have too much on your plate, turn to Him for peace and guidance.
If or when you fail – when you get sucked back into the life of “hurry” – it’s okay. Simply stop, breathe, take a few moments to reset, and begin again.

Reflect on tonight’s prayer and share how God met you there. Join the Your Nightly Prayer discussion on the Crosswalk Forum.
Photo Credit: ©Pixabay/jplenio

Grandchamp is an author and speaker. His book, “In Pursuit of Truth, A Journey Begins,” is an easy-to-read narrative that offers answers to the most common questions new believers and non-believers have about Jesus Christ (Amazon.) Greg speaks on living out our faith in our daily lives – and on creating true disciples of Christ.
Greg doesn’t pretend to be a pastor, a theologian, or a Bible expert, but offers the perspective of an everyday guy on the same journey as everyone else – in pursuit of truth.
Greg can be reached by email or on Facebook @ Greg Grandchamp - Author.