Dear Jesus,

I need You today. I need Your voice, Your touch, Your direction, Your inspiration. I lift up my writing life to You, letting You hold my words in the palm of Your hand.

There are days when I feel small and incapable, when the worries stiffen my neck. Today is one of those days. Be near, Jesus, because Your nearness makes me good.

I give You my relationships–the failed ones, the joyful ones, the confusing ones, the hope-filled ones, the complicated ones, the cherished ones. Make me a better wife, friend, mom, daughter, cousin, aunt, helper.

I rest my worries with You. Forgive me for fretting, for striving, for forgetting to trust. Make me into the kind of woman who runs after You, who buries her head in Your embrace when she’s failed and sinned, who is quick to forgive. Deliver me from bitterness and grudges. Make me a woman of hope and grace. Keep me close to You.

I am small, Lord, but You are big. May I live in such a way that You appear bigger and I smaller. You are the splendid power within me. But sometimes I live as if I had to control everything. Help me relinquish my so-called control. My life is actually for You.

Thank You for rescuing me, for loving me, for pouring into my life, for forgiving me, for healing me. I am in awe of all You’ve done.

Amen.