Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 40 – Stress-free

by TJ Bates

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.
-Psalm 55:22

How often have you heard someone say they “feel stressed,” or that they are “anxious” because the world seems to be falling apart and they feel helpless to do anything about it. Here’s a simple solution:

“So dump it, toss it off, get rid of it as soon as possible! Cast it off your shoulders, and let God do the caring and the carrying for you. Everything’s in his hands anyway. Of course, it’s not easy to do. God knows that too. But it can be done in the same way that any of his commands can be done. The church father Augustine prayed: ‘Lord, give what you command.’ God knows that we can’t keep his will perfectly, but he has made provision to help us keep it.

“The key lies in the constant reminder that we aren’t able, but God is; and in the daily discipline of turning over to him all our anxieties, we begin to change from the worrywarts we are and gradually move into a life of lighthearted obedience. It’s time and experience that count here. That’s why God uses time (and lots of it) to get his will done in us.”

TODAY’S PRAYER: Do you find yourself continually returning to the worry that Jesus forbids? This is the norm for fallen human beings everywhere, so ask the Holy Spirit repeatedly to take it from you. Confess that you can’t do it, but he can.

________

Photo by Allie_Caulfield via Flickr