I once had a friend tell me that they, at times, felt they could be anxious even in their prayers.  Can you relate to that statement?  I know I can.  There have been times in the midst of a difficult trial or when something was weighing heavily upon me that, even as I was bringing the issue before the Lord in prayer, I was feeling much anxiety within my spirit.  I was bringing it to the Lord, yet I was not leaving it with Him; I was continuing to carry the burden.
        There is a verse (well, there are many), but one I want to share with you today that the Lord has used in my life in many different circumstances.  As someone who can struggle with being a control freak and wanting to fix everything, it is a verse I need to hear often……”Be STILL, and know that I AM GOD” (Psalm 46:10a, emphasis mine).  “Still” can be defined as “calm, tranquil, free from noise or turbulence, peaceful.”(1)
        The Lord has used that verse to bring peace to my heart during some of my most difficult trials.  Now I have it hanging on a plaque in a prominent place in my home where I see it often.  It is something I need to be reminded of…….be still, cease striving, rest; He is God, I am not.  What freedom there is in those few words.
        Do we need to pray fervently?  Often?  Specifically?  With faith?  Yes, yes, yes, and yes.  But in the midst of laying our burdens at His feet, let us remember to leave those burdens there, and be still and rest in the loving arms of Jesus, remembering that He, and He alone, is Lord over all the universe.  Sisters, let us find rest and peace in being still, and knowing that He is God.

Stacey Poplawski
WOC Graduate

1 Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G & C Merriam Co, Publishers, 1965.