Find a comfortable position to be still.
For these next few minutes,
There's nowhere else you need to be.
Nothing you need to solve,
Nothing you need to figure out.
Just allow yourself to be here with God.
Take a slow breath in.
And gently let it go.
Again,
Breathing in.
And breathing out,
Let your shoulders soften.
Relax your hands.
Release any tension you've been carrying.
And for just a moment.
Allow yourself to stop thinking about what comes next.
Dear God,
I come to you today.
With everything that's been weighing on my heart.
The things I understand.
And the things I don't.
The things I can control.
And the things I can't.
The questions I keep turning over in my mind.
The conversations I'm anticipating.
The decisions I'm trying to make.
The future I'm trying to predict.
God,
I bring all of it to you.
Sometimes I forget.
But I was never meant to carry tomorrow today.
I try to plan every outcome.
I try to understand every path.
And somewhere along the way,
I lost the peace that you've already given me.
So right now God,
Help me loosen my grip.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 6.
To look at the birds of the air.
They don't spend their lives worrying.
About where their provision will come from,
And yet our Heavenly Father feeds them.
And then Jesus asks us.
.
.
To consider the lilies.
To notice how they grow.
They do not strain.
They do not worry about tomorrow.
They simply receive what you provide.
Sunlight,
Rain,
Soil,
Another morning,
Another season,
And still you clothe them in beauty.
God,
Help me consider the lilies today.
My mind begins racing ahead,
Remind me of the lilies.
When I wonder whether everything will work out.
Remind me of the lilies.
When I feel behind,
Remind me of the lilies.
When I compare the timing of my life to someone else's.
Remind me of the lilies.
They don't rush their blooming.
They don't look toward the flower beside them and wonder why they're different.
They simply grow.
According to the way you created them.
Help me trust.
That you are growing something in me too.
God forgive me for the times I've mistaken worrying for preparing.
For the times I've believed that thinking about something over and over again would somehow give me control over it.
Help me recognize when I have done what I can.
And when it's time to place the rest in your hands.
Your word asks,
Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
I know that worry can't change tomorrow.
It can't force something to happen before it's time.
It can't guarantee an outcome.
But it can take me away from the life you're giving me right now.
So bring me back here.
Back to this breath,
Back to this moment,
And back to you.
God,
I surrender tomorrow to you.
I'd surrender next week,
Next month,
Next year.
I surrender the things I'm waiting to hear about.
I surrender the decisions that have not yet been made.
I surrender the doors I am hoping will open.
I surrender the relationships that I cannot control.
I surrender the dreams that I'm afraid will not happen.
I surrender the timelines that I've created for myself.
I surrender the question I so often ask,
What if?
What if it doesn't work out?
What if things change?
What if I choose incorrectly?
What if I don't know what to do?
God,
When those questions arise,
Help me replace them with something simpler.
You are here.
You are here.
And that is enough for this moment.
Jesus tells us that our Heavenly Father knows what we need.
Before I explain it,
You know.
Before you understand it,
You know.
You're already there.
So why should I spend today trying to live tomorrow?
Help me trust that when tomorrow comes,
Your grace will meet me there.
Just as you have met me here today.
God,
I ask you to teach me the difference between wisdom and worry.
Give me wisdom to take the steps that are mine to take.
And the faith to leave the rest with you.
If there is something I need to do today,
Show me.
If there's a conversation I need to have,
Give me courage.
If there is a decision I need to make,
Give me wisdom.
But if there's nothing more for me to do right now.
.
.
Give me permission to simply trust you.
Jesus tells us,
Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
And all these things will be given to you as well.
So God,
Instead of seeking certainty today,
Help me seek you.
Instead of seeking control,
Help me seek you.
Instead of searching for reassurance,
Help me seek you.
Let my first instinct be to always seek you.
And when worry returns,
Because sometimes it will,
Help me to not be afraid of it.
Let it simply become an invitation to return to you.
A reminder to pray.
A reminder to look around at the world you created,
At the birds,
The trees,
The morning sky,
At the flowers growing quietly from the earth.
And to remember that the same God who cares for all creation cares for me.
Take a slow breath in.
And gently breathe out.
Imagine placing whatever you've been worrying about into God's hands.
You don't need to know how it will unfold.
You don't need to know when the answer will come.
For now,
You can simply release it.
God,
Today I choose faith over fear.
Presence over worry.
Trust over control.
I will take this day one moment at a time,
And when my mind tries to run to tomorrow,
I will remember your words.
Consider the lilies.
I will remember that you are my father,
That you know what I need.
That you are already where I'm going.
And that I never walk alone.
Thank you for carrying what I cannot.
Thank you for providing what I need.
Thank you for the quiet ways you are working.
Even when I can't see them.
Today,
I release tomorrow,
And I receive the day you have given me.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
