"For He, Himself, is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility." (Ephesians 2:14)(NIV) Peace = eirene (noun): peace of mind, tranquility, reconciliation with God God of peace - who dispenses peace, absence of confusion, He expects peace of His people(!) health, welfare, prosperity, every kind of good - a gift which He desires to impart to His people paramount blessing - bestowed upon the righteous it is the present, existing, possession of the believer - our present state.  assurance of salvation, fearing nothing from God; content with earthly circumstance whatever it is. God's peace is independent of outside conditions synonomous with "quietness" referring to a quiet life.  (Reminds me of Psalm 23 - "quiet" water.)  Also synonomous with "tranquility"/calm of the sea, fine or fair weather. There is so much more to peace than I could once have imagined - my view of peace has been limited by my own understanding; it has been limited by my own lack of searching and of seeking.  This brings new meaning to your words, Lord, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Do not let your heart be troubled nor let it be fearful." (John 14:27)(NASB) Lord, I thank you for the peace which you give.  I thank you that you do not give peace as the world gives but I thank you that your peace is one of truth.  I thank you, Lord, that you are the giver of health, of a sound mind and of a pure spirit.  I thank you, Lord, that you cleanse my soul of all of the impurities that are within (you, O Lord, restore my soul and I am grateful before you) for as my soul is cleansed by you of all of the impurities that are within, you make me whole and in that my mind is renewed, my body is made whole; for I know that it is not that which is outside of me that makes me sick but it is what is on the inside and you have come to bring me peace - to bring me health - to restore me body, mind and soul.  Lord God, I pray for your peace, I pray for the restoration and the cleansing of my soul that I might dwell in you and you in me.  I am reminded of your words in Matthew 15:11 "It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man" - and I am humbled before you for I know that inside of me no good thing dwells unless it is you.  Lord, I want to be the cup into which you pour the blood of your convenant - that the inside of this "cup" would be cleansed that the sacrifice which you have made would become a part of me.  That the body which you gave up would be my bread and my life and that in the consumption of you I would be made whole.  Father, cleanse me and heal me.  I pray that out of me would flow streams of living water - pure and clean, tried and trued.  I ask for the peace, the healing, of the innermost parts of me.  Lord, I thank you for the prosperity - the riches of your inheritance.  I thank you that what you give does not tarnish nor does it burn.  I thank you for the riches of your Spirit, the fruit of your Spirit - your gift to me.  I thank you Lord that your riches are not the riches of the world but the are the riches of a contrite spirit and a pure heart - I seek this from you Lord.  I ask you for the peace of YOUR prosperity Lord.  I ask you for your lovingkindness to become a living, breathing part of me - that even as you fashioned me in my mother's womb that you would fashion the riches of your lovingkindness in me.  I ask for the knowledge of you, the all surpassing knowledge, a knowledge which surpasses my mind and my body and that enters into my spirit from your Spirit.  Awaken me Lord to your will and to your ways that I might do the things which you do, that I might see the things which you see, that I might hear what you hear and that I might speak what you speak.  O Lord, your prosperity goes beyond the riches of the world, it surpasses all of which man has made.  Even as man draws from the earth the gold and silver which you have placed there Lord I thank you for the riches of your Spirit, the riches of your character, the gifts of your Spirit that you have placed inside of me and I ask Lord that you would be the cultivator of these gifts, these riches.  I ask for an obedient heart in me that I might be used by you and for you Lord.  As these riches are "mined" from inside of me I pray they would be ever-increasing and I ask that I would rest in the assurance of your life in me.  Fill me with your peace, I pray Lord.  Keep me from the busyness of life, Lord, that I may find your peace and your rest.    As I reflect upon you as my peace, and the tranquality of your existence, I am reminded of having walked with you for a moment in time and in that you showed me the ABSOLUTE stillness and calmness of a sea.  As I looked out upon it, in the middle I saw a raft with 3 people sitting there and I remember, at first an anxiety stirring in me and the frustration inside of me asking "how can they just 'sit' there and do nothing"?  It was foreign and strange to me to see this because of the busyness of my own life at the time.  I remember as I stood there, looking, my anxiety was transformed in the deepest part of my being to a place of complete rest and calm.  I was complete in this presence and suddenly, for a moment in time, I knew the stillness and the tranquility of God.  I came suddenly out of this place as I felt the movement of water over the tops of my feet but I have never forgotten what it felt to be in that place of perfect stillness with you, Lord God.  As I think upon it now, it was you who took me there - I walked at your side as we went and I know the only way to return is to be with you.  "There is a place of quiet rest near to the heart of God."  Jesus IS the heart of God. Take me back to the still waters Lord that I may be in your presence, in your peace, in your completeness.  I pray that the winds of life, the circumstance of life, which stirs the water of my feet will not cause me to leave that place of peace and tranquility with you but that I would remain at the place of quiet waters, with you. The Lord is my Shepherd . . . He leads me beside quiet waters.  Lord, I thank you that you are my peace. Deborah (July 19/04) posted August 4/05 www.footstoolministries.org; www.footstoolministries.com