God’s Word tells us in Proverbs 12:25, “Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.” Every human on the planet knows “anxiety weighs down the heart.” We have all experienced anxiety. What do you worry about the most – finances, weight, school, kids, job, schedule, or something else? In fact, studies show anxiety affects 40 million adults annually – which is roughly 18 percent of the population!
Anxiety leads to chronic stress, work struggles, relationship challenges, and social avoidance – anxiety weighs down our hearts! It comes as no surprise that the old English word for “worry” or “anxiety” means to choke or to strangle. Anxiety produces a great deal of energy but never makes any progress. Forty percent of all anxieties are about future events which never occur. Thirty percent of our anxieties are about the past and cannot be changed. Twelve percent are needless anxieties about health and 10 percent are petty anxieties. Only eight percent of anxieties are legitimate!
What, then, is the solution to all this anxiety? Philippians 4:6 offers a solution, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”The simple solution is “Don’t be anxious, pray instead.” What should we pray? What is the kind of prayer that we can pray in order not to be anxious?
In Matthew 6:11, Jesus tells us, “This is how you should pray…, Give us today our daily bread.” In other words, instead of being anxious, we need to ask God for help! Worry and anxiety come when we feel helpless – often trying to control the uncontrollable. Instead, we need to remember nothing, absolutely nothing, is out of God’s control. God tells us to pray! In James 4:2b (NKJV), we read, “…Yet you do not have because you do not ask.” More than 20 times in the New Testament, God says, “Ask.” He wants us to ask for His help – in fact, He is waiting for us to ask! May we this week, learn to pray and ask God for His help more than we worry!
Anxiety leads to chronic stress, work struggles, relationship challenges, and social avoidance – anxiety weighs down our hearts! It comes as no surprise that the old English word for “worry” or “anxiety” means to choke or to strangle. Anxiety produces a great deal of energy but never makes any progress. Forty percent of all anxieties are about future events which never occur. Thirty percent of our anxieties are about the past and cannot be changed. Twelve percent are needless anxieties about health and 10 percent are petty anxieties. Only eight percent of anxieties are legitimate!
What, then, is the solution to all this anxiety? Philippians 4:6 offers a solution, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”The simple solution is “Don’t be anxious, pray instead.” What should we pray? What is the kind of prayer that we can pray in order not to be anxious?
In Matthew 6:11, Jesus tells us, “This is how you should pray…, Give us today our daily bread.” In other words, instead of being anxious, we need to ask God for help! Worry and anxiety come when we feel helpless – often trying to control the uncontrollable. Instead, we need to remember nothing, absolutely nothing, is out of God’s control. God tells us to pray! In James 4:2b (NKJV), we read, “…Yet you do not have because you do not ask.” More than 20 times in the New Testament, God says, “Ask.” He wants us to ask for His help – in fact, He is waiting for us to ask! May we this week, learn to pray and ask God for His help more than we worry!