Most Understanding Lord, I sometimes take Your gift of peace for granted and I feel like it should come to me with little effort. However, Your Word tells me to “turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” Peaceful relationships come from making efforts to live in peace with You and others. You spoke of Your peace as one that transcends all understanding and that it would guard my heart and mind. I can only imagine never being anxious about anything … but that explains the peace that transcends all understanding. True peace is not found through positive thinking, good feelings, or the absence of conflict. It comes from knowing that You are in control. Your peace comes from knowing my citizenship in Your Kingdom is assured, my destiny is set, and I have the power to overcome sin and the temptation to sin. This knowledge allows Your peace to come in and guard my heart and mind.
You have said that Your desire is for me to cast my cares upon You. This can only occur when I trust in You. That trust causes the oppressiveness of burdens to be lifted from me because I believe they can and will be resolved through Your involvement. Through trusting, the door to prosperity, right standing, protection from evil, and peace have been opened to me. Through Your Word, I have been given the formula for finding peace. Your peace comes as I internalize the messages in Your Word and live by it. When I experience troubles, I should not worry or become fearful. Since I have been deemed an overcomer, I trust that You will stand with me in overcoming my obstacles. Because of my trust in You, I find a joy that flows from possessing Your peace. Too often I see peace as the absence of conflict. It is more than that. It is total reliance on You. Seeking peace starts with me coming to You.
Being justified by my faith in You has gained peace for me with Your Father. The peace I can now experience comes from being reconciled with Him. There is no more hostility between us because my sins no longer block my relationship with Him. In submission to You, my mind and life come under the influence of the Holy Spirit. My sinful nature, which was hostile to You and would not submit, loses its power so I can follow in Your ways which yield prosperity and peace. In addition, Your coming has destroyed the barriers that humans build between themselves. Because of Your sacrifice, believers have become one, our hostility toward each other has been removed, we all have access to the riches of Heaven, we are no longer strangers to You and each other, and we have become living pieces of Your Kingdom. Living in love leads me to peace with You and others. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
Psalm 119:165 Great peace have they who love Your law and nothing can make them stumble.