“Prayer is a refusal to live as an outsider to my God and my own soul.”

-Eugene Peterson

Jon Bon Jovi’s classic, “Living on A Prayer,” pretty much sums it up for me. Invisible to the outside world, we each carry around our own sack of worries, fears, and deep hopes. Sometimes it can feel like we are holding up the whole world at our heart’s center.  At any given moment, I am worrying about a parent, a child, a husband, a sister, a friend, a church member, my work and finances, the state of the world and the state of my soul. How quickly I can become tangled on the inside. No peace. Frederick Buechner said, “Joy is knowing, even for a moment, that underneath everything are the everlasting arms.” As you see in the picture above: Even in the grit, God is reaching out to us.

Sometimes we just need reminding that we don’t have to go it here on our own. God is with us. Prayer is God’s invitation to exchange our burdens for sublime peace. Lean in!

Dear God, Where am I? Where are You? Please close the distance. 

The whispering of prayers will be my and your salvation.

Holy and Loving God,

I am calling out to you from that most intimate and secret place of my being,

yearning to touch the hem of Your robe,

and feel Your mysterious power ripple through me.

The truth is I am vulnerable.

I hurt.

I doubt.

I hope.

I need You.

Today would you tuck me under Your Wing?

And I would find again my grounding and peace.

Amen.