I was talking with a young woman about worry. She said, “Sometimes you just can’t help it”. And we would tend to agree. Sometimes things seem big. Sometimes things are big! Yet God tells us to worry about nothing! It seems impossible to us.
“Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything: tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank Him for His answers.” Philippians 4:6 (Living Bible).
This same verse that tells us not to worry actually tells us how to accomplish it.
God actually gives us the formula against worry. There are three steps:
Pray about everything
Nothing is too big or too small for God to handle.
If it concerns you, it concerns Him.
Tell God your needs – take the time to talk things over with God. Don’t just plead for help, tell Him what you need. Ask for His guidance and His supply.
Don’t forget to thank Him for His answers
Start thanking in advance. Exercise your faith. Offer praise as a sacrifice to a faithful God, believing He will be faithful beyond the fog and the worry you now feel.
And then there’s the promise! The amazing thing God does… because He loves you!
“If you do this you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4: 7 (Living Bible)
Try it today. Take what is worrying you and talk to God about it. Begin to thank Him for His faithfulness and the help, insight and guidance He will bring to you. And experience Him quieting your thoughts and your heart and bringing you His peace. It’s amazing and it’s unexplainable. Experience it today!
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for Your Word that tells me how to deal with the worries that crowd in upon my heart and mind today. Father, I just want to tell You about them right now…I ask for Your help and Your guidance in each concern. Thank you that You are a faithful God and that You see beyond the fog that clouds my view right now. Thank you that You are able to do what I can’t even imagine right now. I declare my trust in You and I ask You to fill me with Your peace. Quiet my heart and mind today. Help me to see each worry that creeps in as a call to prayer. I praise You that You are my strength and my help, my God in whom I trust! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24
Thought
God does know us. We cannot pretend we are something we are not with him. He knows us – inside and out, through and through. This should liberate us to share a remarkable degree of intimacy with him, but most of us run from such a close relationship with our Father. If our desire, however, is to become more like him, the only way to be transformed is by inviting him in to look at our hearts, our motivations, and our desires.
Prayer
O God, I know you are the one who “searches hearts and minds.” Yet because of the grace you demonstrated in Jesus, I am confident that you love me. My heart is sorry for the sin I have committed, but I am really trying to serve you in honor and purity. Please fill me with your Spirit to enable me to become more like Christ. In the name of your holy Son I pray. Amen.
