Prayer in the Middle of the Storm

Lord, this is not a passing worry. It has settled over my days like weather I cannot escape. I have tried to manage it, to out-think it, to stay busy enough not to feel it. It does not work. So I stop trying to fix myself, and I come to You, the One who calmed the sea with a word. You did not promise Your friends a life without storms. You promised Your presence inside the boat. So I ask, first of all, for that: be here. Let me feel that I am not alone in this, even when I cannot see a way through. Then give me wisdom. Show me which of my fears deserve action and which deserve surrender. Show me what is mine to carry and what was never mine. And where my body itself is crying out for help, give me courage to seek it without shame. I do not ask for the storm to end tonight, though I would welcome it. I ask for one steady breath, and then another, and for Your hand on the back of the boat. Peace, be still. Peace, be still. Peace, be still. Amen.