Part 61 - Prayer when anxious 

My Prayer when I am anxious- Psalm 131 This says it all!

My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore.

I will lie down and sleep in peace…

As a young believer, I went to Senegal, West Africa in 1982 to teach at a mission school for two years. I had never really travelled out of the country, and was quite anxious about my living situation, in the mission compound. Arriving late in the school year, due to a delay in my VISA, my days were filled with the curriculum preparation and teaching, but the nights were filled with anxiety and worries. How was I going to pay for my expenses? How was I going to communicate with the locals? How would I get along with my co-workers? Etc. Etc. I was not trusting in GOD and was striving in my own strength to get through the days. This went on for several months. One day I was reading in the psalms and I came across verses that helped to put all my anxiety into perspective.

Psalm 4:3 I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

I had to make a choice to believe that the God who brought me to Senegal would provide for all my needs. As I chose to believe this truth and to trust HIM, sleep became much easier. Even after all these years, with many new places travelled, I continue to come back to this simple truth, when I am tired and sleep will not come, it is GOD who allows me to sleep well!

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