TURN YOUR INWARD WORRIES INTO UPWARD PRAYERS
In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus discussed the sinful and wasteful human activity of worry. Clearly, worry is sinful because it is an expression of anxious doubting. And doubt is the opposite of faith. Three times in this sermon, Jesus said, “Do not worry.” Now, if He had said it once, it would be enough, but He said it three times! Worry isn’t just a bad habit. It’s a sin.
Not only that, worry is useless. Worry is a wasted activity. Jesus asked if anyone could cause their body to grow “one cubit” (about 18 inches) by worrying. Of course, this is a ridiculous question. Worry doesn’t accomplish anything. It certainly can’t cause growth of even one inch, much less, “one cubit.”
Worry is sinful. Worry is useless. And worry is harmful. For the longer it continues, the more it affects the stress hormones of the body, which affect the heart, increase blood pressure, and may contribute to heart attack or stroke.
So, what can we do? Jesus said to “seek first” God’s kingdom and let the Lord care for you. In other words, turn your worries into prayers. As the apostle Paul said, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything” (Phil. 4:6 NLT). It takes the same amount of effort to talk to yourself about a problem (worry) as it does to talk to God about it (prayer). The difference being that prayer is faithful. Prayer is powerful. And prayer is helpful. Prayer works. Worry doesn’t.
PRAYER: Dear Father, forgive us when we are anxious about something and forget to pray. We lift up our concerns to You today. Concerns about our nation, about the pandemic, about our families and our future. We trust You, O Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.