Shaping your prayers

Worry has a powerful impact on our lives, doesn't it? It invades our thoughts. It tends to shape our actions and interactions with others. Sometimes the shaping is beneficial, but worry often causes increased - and unnecessary - stress.

I'll admit it: I'm a worrier. From something as trivial as what I'm wearing to more weighty issues as how my Christian testimony affects others, I spend time and energy fretting. Is this shirt appropriate and does it look okay? Did I upset my friend with that comment I meant to be funny? Are my kids healthy and getting enough sunshine, exercise, variety of foods? Am I being a faithful witness, turning others to Christ or turning them away? On and on it goes.

Yes, I'm a worrier. But I'm not supposed to be. Worry takes the focus off God, and His power in my life is diminished when I worry. It says I don't trust God to be Himself - good, loving, kind, generous, to name only a few of His attributes.

I love how The Message translates Philippians 4: "Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life."

Wonderful indeed. Praying in faith takes the worry from my life and shapes it into a petition, a praise of God's goodness. Praying in faith takes the power out of my hands, out of everyone's control, and puts it back on God where it belongs. It allows God to reveal Himself and His nature to me, which allows me to reveal it to others.

What are your worries, dear readers? How can you shape them into a petition or a praise? Spend time today simply asking God to fix that situation burdening your heart, then thank Him for doing it. Thank Him for His faithfulness. He loves you!

Praying many blessings on you today,
Shelley

Heavenly Father, please take these burdens from us. Help us to give them to you. Help us live according to your word, which says to praise you instead of worry. We thank you for your faithfulness to us, for your love and your power and your personal touch in our lives. As we pray, may we focus on you and on the sacrifice made for us. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.