Prayer Challenge
28 Days of Prayer
- Antidote for anxiety
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? (Matthew 6:25–27)
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6–7)
Devotional
Peace that surpasses understanding? That sounds amazing! But can I actually get that? I want the button that I can press and receive it. I actually haven’t experienced unexplainable peace after pressing the ‘prayer’ button. It’s not like the switch for anxiety in our hearts and minds can just be flipped. What I am finding is that the deliverance that God promises involves more surrender and more faith than I think.
The other day I heard a friend talk about a season of depression in their lives and how trusting God with their mental health was more like turning the page to a new chapter in the book of their life. I have some chapters like that when it comes to anxiety. Sometimes, in my mind, I go back and start reading that chapter and I start feeling those things again. When I feel anxiety rising in my body and spirit, I pray. I pray for peace.
The peace that is promised may come quickly for you, or it may come with time and continued prayer and someone helping you to reframe and re-pattern your thought life. The power here is not turning off something inside of you, or flipping a switch, it’s turning your perspective over to God and allowing Him to shape it. It’s turning the page to a new chapter and allowing God to do the writing. That is trust. That is faith. That is surrender.
That is the point of these kinds of prayers. When I say, God I can’t keep going like this. God tells me, “You can, and I will go with you.” I have asked God to take away my anxiety and give me relief many times in my life. Yet, I have found He only removes the anxiety when I give it to Him and seek His perspective. But the very problem with anxiety is that I fear letting it go. But to be free of it, I must surrender. Only in surrender will God give me this peace that will guard my heart and mind.
For me, this is ongoing. It takes constant reminders from Scripture, like the ones we read today, and asking God to keep my eyes fixed on Him, and seeing my life through His eyes. He is shaping me, and He has removed – and is removing – anxiety and giving me peace.
Lord your power in this world is amazing. I can see how wonderful you are in the world around me. You made all that is with just a word. How awesome you are God! Lord today I bring to you all that I worry about, that causes me anxiety, and I surrender it all to you. I admit that this is difficult to do, Lord help me to have faith, to trust in you. I know my heart is prone to wonder, but you Father are steadfast and true. Thank you for giving me all that I need today. God would you bring blessing into my life, would you keep me close to you, show me who you are in the midst of my circumstance, give me grace in abundance and as I trust you give me peace. Amen.
Parent Prompt
What is causing you to be anxious?
Write down the things that are causing you to be anxious in your prayer journal. Then give them to God in prayer. When you notice a family member becoming anxious remind them to give it to God and pray.
Pray that God will take your anxieties and give you peace beyond understanding.