A Prayer for Tranquility
By Jessica Van Roekel
"Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices." Psalm 37:3-7 ESV
Have you ever met someone who seems tranquil all the time? Nothing seems to ruffle them; they sail through rough waters with grace, and they face difficulties with strength. I wish I could be like them. But, alas, I am not. I turn my worries over and over, passing them through one scenario after the other. I tell myself I’m praying, but I don’t feel any better when I say “amen.” I’m discovering that tranquility looks like practicing trust, delight, commitment, and stillness throughout my day.
Trust is not a static response. It doesn’t mean we stop wringing our hands and letting them hang limply at our sides. It is active. Trust is relying on the integrity, strength, and ability of God. It’s placing our worries in his capable hands and then doing good. It’s choosing to walk in his ways, believing that his heart is good toward us. Even when we can’t see it because our prayers are not answered the way we want them to be. Trust leads to tranquility.
Delighting in the Lord means to lean toward him. When we enjoy someone’s company, we lean. God leans toward us. He delights in us, and in the words of Zechariah 3:17, he sings songs of delight over us. We are his workmanship, created on purpose for a purpose. Our challenges in life can cause us to withdraw from an intimate relationship with him because our disappointment in the way things turn out stabs our hearts. But God tells us to delight in him, and when we do, we fix our eyes on his goodness and experience tranquility.
Committing your way to the Lord means surrendering to his leadership. The writer of Proverbs knew the power of making plans and then committing our way to the Lord. We determine our plans, but God directs our steps. Planning is right and good, but holding too tight to the plans steals our tranquility when they flip upside down and inside out. When we sit and decide on the plans for our day, but interruptions come, and our plans fall apart, we can follow God right into the chaos, maintaining a tranquil heart.
Being still before the Lord brings peace to our hearts. Physical stillness is good for our bodies to experience rejuvenation. Mental and emotional stillness reaches into our hearts to replace worry with a peace that transcends our understanding. When we can stop our fussing over how we don’t like our current situation and are determined to still our racing thoughts, we can turn them to remembering. We remember the Lord’s faithfulness and tranquility seeps into us.
There is much in this life that threatens to rob us of tranquility: our child gets sick, we miss a deadline, or a traffic accident happens to derail our life. However, when we cultivate these four qualities, we can restore our tranquility and shift to dealing with the current bumps in the road with peace flowing through our thoughts, words, and actions.
Let’s pray:
Heavenly Father,
I’m worried about so much. My kids aren’t living as they should. My spouse is dealing with anger. I’m struggling at work. The world seems like it’s on fire with one emergency after another. Peace seems foreign, but I long for tranquility to fill my heart. Help me to trust you and make choices that honor you. I want to delight in you, so I choose to praise your name: you are good, mighty to save, strong, and my refuge. I lean toward you when my heartache whispers to turn away. I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I know you are there, so I commit my day, weeks, months, and years to you. Help me to still my racing thoughts so that I can remember your faithfulness. Fill me with your peace and tranquility as I trust in you.
In Jesus’ name, Amen
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/ChrisHackett
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