This is Cynthia L. Simmons and Julie K. Gillis, and this is prayers for a woman. So we are giving you an invitation to begin the Holy habit of praying for yourself with a few of your girlfriends.
Today, our subject is stress. As we move toward the holidays, it's so easy for us to feel like we have to do more and push, push, push ourselves. Julie, can I words to say? I just know that it's probably the most stressful time that anyone has ever lived in, at least that's how it feels, right?
I don't know anybody who's not multitasking, who doesn't have a long to do list, who doesn't feel like they could use a real period of refreshment and relaxation. So we're going to be praying concerning stress out to be a high direction that I'm going to go. So let's just go before the Lord. Your father, we take our stress to you.
It's so easy for us to feel our hands with too many jobs. But I thank you that you know how many we need to put down and stop worrying about and give ourselves time to rest. When I pray that you will help us to learn that equation, I'm not taking on more than our strength can handle and that you can give us more strength with the things that we do have to do. Give us the ability to rest instead of allowing ourselves to get worked up.
Yes, Father. Lord God, your words says that we are to cast our cares on you because you care for us. And I know as women it's so easy to pick up this care and put it in our pocket in this care, this care. It's what we do all day long.
We pick things up and we put things away. But sometimes we just hold on to these things. So God, will you please enable us to cast our cares truly onto you so that they are not hanging off our shoulders, hanging on our backs, weighing us down, Lord God. Right now I just opened up my palms to you and I lift up the things that are causing so much stress to me and I ask you to take them.
And I thank you for that, Lord God. I pray, Father, that you will give me great grace for the situations I find myself and great grace for the many tasks ahead of me. I pray Lord God that you will in the midst of the stressful moments enable me to breathe deeply of your beautiful grace, Lord God, be calmed by your spirit. Lord, I pray that you will refresh and relax our hearts, Lord God, as we turn to you in those moments of stress in those days that are one of those days, Lord God, help us to turn to you and receive refreshment and and relaxation inside our hearts from you, Lord God.
Father, your word says you lead us beside still waters. I pray, Father, that you will help us to do well there. You're still waters, Lord God, so that the stress can't take effect on us, Father, but your calm and peaceful presence will overcome all those things. We thank you for that, Father, in the mighty name of Jesus.
And Lord, I just think of Martha and how Jesus said to her all the stuff isn't necessary. She's important thing. Help us to do that as we let go of our stress. Yes, amen.