Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:6-7
Dear Sweet Sister:
You are worried again. I see it in your tightened shoulders, your shortened breaths and your serious face. I can tell that you are becoming withdrawn into your fearful thoughts again and not being present to those around you as you worry about what may happen in the future. Me. too. sister.
You care so much for the struggling people God has put in your life that they are pulling you down. You are feeling their pain and absorbing it into yourself physically, mentally and spiritually and it is draining you…..worry doesn’t help them and it is paralyzing you. I suspect that your hands and heart are tight with worry too.
What is worry? I recently thought of this simple definition:
Worry is when we think that something bad might happen to you or someone you love.
Worry steals our joy in the present and most concerning…….worry reveals our lack of faith in our good and loving heavenly father. Worry is listening to the negative thoughts while Worship focuses on the positive (what is more positive than God?) and speaks out truth.
Worship is remembering the character of God and releasing ourselves and all our worries into His loving and capable hands.
I remember as a young girl my family praying this grace before every meal:
God is Great, God is good and we thank Him for our food.
If God is Great.….why aren’t we trusting Him more to protect our loved one?
If God is Good.…..why aren’t we trusting that He will only allow a situation what will bring each of us and our loved one closer to Him and to become more like Him?
Worship is opening our tight fists and hearts and letting God lift our burdens off our tired shoulders.
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
Today at church my husband and I held hands during the Lord’s Prayer as our outward hands were lifted up. Single people held both hands up………..what a beautiful example of how our physically bodies ( hands open palm side up …..ready to trust and receive all that God has….and ready to give up whatever He may take back) reflects what our minds should be doing. Our bodies and words were as one as we prayed:
Give us this Day our daily bread.
wow. This is a statement of true worship and not fear. We are saying we will not worry about today because He is a good Father who provides just what we need. Daily. Every day. Day by Day. He will Provide. He is a good father who only gives good things to His Children. (Luke 11:11-14)
So first, sweet sis, we need to pray for our concerns. There is power in prayer and we should come to our heavenly father with our concerns. But then we need to release all of these requests ……. with open hands …….and start praising God for who He is, showing by our open hands and hearts how we trust Him to do what is best.
And the cherry on top after we release our cares to God………the prayer that Jesus himself prayed when he was in the garden of Gethsemane overcome with grief…… “They will be done.”
Worship can be a phrase or bible verse declaring the truth and fighting back against the worry that blocks out God’s peace.
During desert times of great stress …I repeat these three statements:
God is a good. God is Love. God is in Control.
So much of what God is doing is a mystery beyond our understanding, but focusing on God’s love, goodness and sovereignty is a way to open our hearts to His healing touch and to the power of the Holy Spirit.
Declaring out loud the word of God (scripture) is also a powerful tool as this is a weapon when the doubts and burdensome thoughts attack you: say out loud …No, I will not worry because:
God did not give me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7
God works all things out for Good for those that Love God and are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
I love the following one for those that have children for as mothers we are like the ewes. God promises to care for our children.
He will feed His flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young. Isaiah 40:11
Listening and singing along to christian music is a wonderful way to choose to focus on God and not on what is worrying us sweet sister.
Go to utube and read the lyrics of a worship song or turn on the local christian radio. My favorite song is “Blessed be your Name” by Tree63. Also, check out “Good Good Father” by Chris Tomlin and ” What a Beautiful Name by Hillsong. ”
So lift up your concerns to the throne of God sweet sisters and then start to praise God for who He is. He loves you and your loved one more than you could ever comprehend. He is a big God….He is on His throne. Let Him do His job.
Always end in Thanksgiving…for example: “thank you God that you are there with my loved one”….”thank you that you rose from the dead”……”thank you for setting me free from the prison of my sins and fears”….”Help me to walk in that freedom today.”
And the cherry on the top? Thy Will Be Done.
So Sweet Sister….when a anxious thought comes…become a funnel and lift up your hands in Worship and let God’s spirit come in and fill you with all the good things of God to replace your anxious thoughts:
Peace, Joy, strength, hope, self-control and an extra helping of Love.
