Do not be anxious about
anything, but in every situation,
by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, present your
requests to God.
Philippians 4:6
I rest my worries in constant prayer
LORD, I confess that I can cite Philippians 4:6 quite easily but it is the actual doing that I struggle with. In fact, when I get very distressed, I forget about you and turn inward to try and solve my problems. Or I call friends and family to lay all my worries upon. Too often it seems you are my last gasp when all else fails. Thank you for giving us your Son to remind us that you are the only source we need to turn to in times of trouble. With His guiding words I will place you front and center of my difficult situations. Through constant prayer and communion with You I will find everlasting peace. I lift this up in Jesus’ name. Amen
My ever-positive husband used to call me his “woulda, coulda, shoulda” wife. It confounded him how often I could worry about something I just did or said, something I was about to do, or something I needed to say or do. Peace can be as elusive to me as the Loch Ness monster is to photographers.
I can even carry over all this worry to purchases I made or need to make. My kids know quite well the meaning of “buyer’s remorse” because I would buy a blouse, bring it home, and then fret over whether or not I should’ve bought it. At times, I’d have buyer’s remorse before I even left the store.
Nowadays my frets and anxieties rest in bigger issues such as the state of our country or my children’s future. And yet, there’s little to nothing I can do about any of it.
Can any one of you by worrying
add a single hour to your life?
Matthew 6:27
This verse hits home for me. I’ve spent a lot of precious God-given hours worrying – about things I did and didn’t have control over. On the outside, I appear to be a decisive person. But on the inside I worry about hurting people’s feelings, whether or not I “did the right thing,” am I being a good enough friend/wife/mother. And on and on.
But I’m done. In human years I’d say on average I have about 148,920 days left in my life, if all goes well. Of course, I could be called to God tomorrow. And worrying won’t add any more time. In fact, worrying will take away some of that time. I’ve got a lot left to do here on this planet – weddings, births, travel, great meals to eat, and kisses I still want from my husband. I don’t want to waste another day keeping my worries from God’s capable hands.
I tried this plan out the other day. I said a small conversational prayer to God: “God, I don’t want to think about this for one more minute! Please take it off my mind and off my desire to even want to think about it.” About an hour later I suddenly realized I had forgotten all about that particular concern. I didn’t feel that familiar lurch of my emotion to grab it back.
Friend, the gift of peace is right up at the top of precious God gifts. I want more of it and less heart wrenching, mind scrambling worry. With putting God front and center of each and every situation I know the scales will be tipped toward peace.
If you want this too, add the prayer to your daily prayer list and watch and see how God works in your life!
emboldened.net 