Why pray when you can worry?

Why pray when you can worry?

Philippians 4: 6-7, 1 Peter 5:7

There is no need for you to pray when you can worry. Why do you bother to pray when it is most natural for you to worry? You carry about a load of anxiety although you claim you know a God who answers prayers. Something is wrong with you! Perhaps that reveals the state of your heart because it shows you do not really expect an answer from God.

Peter wrote advising us to cast all our cares upon him because he cares for us but you have chosen to carry all the cares on your heart while expecting Him to do something about it. Why would God bother to do something about it when you are still struggling with it and wondering how to go about it. You cannot sleep, you develop a high blood pressure because your life is full of anxiety. Snap out of it into reality because the truth is; you do not trust God!

You are so full of information on how things may go wrong. You already know all the ways in which it may not work. You are full of stories of others who tried the same thing and regretted it. You know God can do all things, but you are not sure he would do it for you. You pray and fast, but you are still wondering about what you should do about it. Others have laughed at you and told you that it is stupid to wait on the Lord when you can take steps. Thus, you are between two opinions all the time. You are hurting yourself by being double minded! There is no use waiting on God whom your heart does not trust. Choose ye this day what you shall do.

Proof of Trust in Prayer.

The proof that you have prayed till the point at which your heart is completely rested in God is perfect Peace. When you cast all your cares upon him and dump them at his feet, what you experience is the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. Do not claim to have prayed to God, neither boast that you are depending on Him if your mind is not stayed on him in calm assurance.

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee”. Isaiah 26:3.

The secret: Supplication with thanksgiving.

We are not just asked to pray but according to Paul you should make supplications and add thanksgiving. Supplication is to present strong reasons, to plead your cause by bringing God to remembrance of His covenant and his promises concerning the issue of concern. Trusting in God who is faithful to his word and believing in the word of God which cannot be broken gives you the confidence of approaching His throne. You must take time to note from the scriptures the things which speak concerning your case and present them unto the Judge of all living.

Isaiah 43:26. “Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified”.

When you do this effectively, you come to the point of thanksgiving. At that point it is obvious that everything is now in the father’s hands and thanksgiving flows from your heart. When you reach that point, peace which surpasses human understanding floods your soul with calm assurance that it is done. If you have not reached that point concerning an issue, you have not yet casted all your cares upon him.

What next?

“That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Hebrews 6:12

Obedience of faith is the next thing. If there are instruction laid in your heart concerning the matter or things for which you alone are responsible then, make sure you do those obvious things. After obedience, you have need of patience, waiting actively on God for the delivery of your request. This is not a passive thing but an active process. God who answers prayer would answer you speedily in Jesus Name. 

The Dilemma of waiting.

Waiting for God has not been easy even from the times of old. Abraham knew God who promised was able to do it but he still listened to his wife and took Haggai as wife. However, God who never failed still brought the child of promise through Sarah. Jacob could not wait for God, instead he listened to his mother and cheated his brother of the inheritance. This act brought a lot of sorrow into his life.

“And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been,…..” Gen 47:8-9

“Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow”. Isaiah 50:10-11

Anytime we strife in our own way and out of God’s specific instruction to get done what he has promised without waiting for him, it causes problems. Many of us are suffering from our lack of patience yet others are wondering why God whom we serve hasn’t settled us.

“For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.” Isaiah 30:15

Return today unto God, wait upon him and He will speedily settle your case.

“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” Psalms 27:13-14

Shalom!