Sweet is Your presence, Lord God. Fragrant is Your counsel. Look upon Your beloved with favor, Jesus. I need You now and always. Guide my hesitant steps through this valley of the unknown. Lift me over the pitfalls that I cannot see. Carry me over the rocky terrain that I am too weak to traverse. I rejoice in Your strength when I am weak. I delight in Your protection when I cannot see the enemy coming. My Father in heaven, open my eyes to see Your heavenly host surrounding me so that I am no longer afraid. Open my heart to view the eternal landscape that awaits me on the horizon of my life. Remind me that You are there at the end just as You were there at the beginning. You are with me, even now, my God, Emmanuel. Enable me to feel the touch of Your hand in my own so that the staff of love with which You steady me on this treacherous path of life grants me the confidence I need to keep moving in the direction of Your Kingdom. Under the mighty Word of Psalm 23:4 and the authority of Christ Jesus, I bow before the Lord in prayer.

Even when the way goes through
    Death Valley,
I’m not afraid
    when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd’s crook
    makes me feel secure.
Psalm 23:4, MSG