Here's another post from the DeliberateU archives. Enjoy!
As I hung up from our weekly Master’s Mind Business owners’ call, I was reflecting on the beauty and challenge of living and leading in our various places of work, and I couldn't help but think of this verse I memorized a long time ago…
Because of my Lord’s GREAT LOVE, we are not consumed in the middle of raging storms and pressure from every side. Because of our Lord’s never-failing compassion that is new EVERY MORNING, we have hope and trust Him for good to come of every situation.
During the call, one of the owners mentioned the pressures and stresses he was facing in his business that morning. Similar sentiments echoed from others.
My good friend and partner, Darren shared a poem that significantly impacted him during a really tough, stress-filled time. It's a poem and prayer of Release by Roy Lessin, co-founder and writer with Dayspring:
"Heavenly Father, I RELEASE to you the burdens I have been carrying, burdens that You never meant for me to carry. I CAST all my cares upon You -- all my worries, all my fears. You have told me to not be anxious about anything, but rather to bring everything to You in prayer with thankfulness.
Father, CALM my restless spirit, QUIET my anxious heart, STILL my troubling thoughts with the assurance that You are in control. I LET GO of my grip upon the things I have been hanging onto, with opened hands I come to You. I RELEASE to Your will all that I am trying to manipulate; I RELEASE to Your authority all that I am trying to control; I RELEASE to Your timing all that I have been striving to make happen.
I THANK YOU for Your promise to SUSTAIN me, PRESERVE me, and GUARD all that I have entrusted to Your keeping. PROTECT my heart and mind with Your peace, the peace that passes all understanding. Father, may Your will be done in my life, in Your time, and in Your way."
Roy Lessin
A Deliberate Application
- Where are you feeling the weight and tension of carrying more care than you were meant to?
- What are you having difficulty entrusting to God and releasing to His hands? Why do you think that is?
- As you sense God prompting you, pause, confess, and release the things you are striving for-trying to do in your own effort. You may want to pray the Release poem aloud and be specific about the burdens, cares, fears, and worries you want to release.
- Who may God be asking you to share this post with? Who could use some encouragement and release?
