A Prayer For Rest

I don't know about you, but over the past 5 years, I've been grinding like there is no tomorrow. I've flown through an undergraduate and graduate program, only to prepare to do it again. I've been working 50-60 hours per week, and on top of that I've been trying to keep up with having some sort of life outside of the mundane obligations of my academic centered life.

We all want to achieve some level of success in our lives. The definition of success of course is different depending on who you ask. Some people consider success as getting married and having children. Some people considered a number of degrees and a 6 figure salary success. Other consider being able to get up in the morning without dreading going to work success. And as born and bred Americans, we've been taught that you do what is necessary to reach that goal. Grind until you can't, then grind some more.

I wonder what would happen if we took ourselves less seriously. I wonder how our lives would change if we realized that the standards we have set for ourselves are strictly self imposed. Did God ever say that you must get your Ph.D.? Did God ever say that you need to own your own home by age 23? All He said was live holy and obey Him. We must have added that extra stuff somewhere along the lines, and now we spend the majority of our time living up to our own standards instead of those that are Gods.

I wonder what would happen if we learned how to sit down and rest.

Father
I pray that you would show your children how to rest
How to be able to step away from things, obligations, and people
And allow time for You to refill us
Revive us Lord
Teach us to set apart time to receive from You
Father You said that in our weakness You are strong
Your children are weary and weak
Stand up and be strong in us Lord
Fill us with Your spirit so we can fulfill what You've called us to do
And give us the wisdom to make the rest secondary to our own health and wellness
Help us to learn how to say no
Help us to learn how to discern if You are calling us to a thing
Our desire is to please You
Help us to realize that having degrees and money is not what pleases You
But it is attending to those You've called us to
Those in distress, the widows, and the orphans
Help us correctly order our priorities so we do not give into stress and frustration
We know that you've freed us from the pressures of this world
We no longer have to pay penance for our short comings to any man
Because Jesus, You are our justification
You have already freed us from the standards set by man
And You now hold us to a standard of love
We give You our worries and concerns
We give You those things that trouble our mind and our bodies
Take them away Lord, and revive us
Show us grace and mercy as we learn our new order of priorities
Be patient with us and don't remove from us Your grace
Because we know that it is by Your hand are we able to do anything

Amen