The Prayer of Commitment (Overcoming Worry)
By Pastor Mitch Horton | August 2002 | Posted in • Archives | (0) Comments
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry 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 he birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit (18 inches) to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘what shall we eat?’ or ‘what shall we drink?’ or ‘what shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:25-34) NKJV
We’re confronted with multiple opportunities each day to worry about so many things. Modern life has left us in a “time warp” with not enough time to do everything that needs to be done! And that added with the current world climate is enough to set any person on edge about tomorrow.
No doubt Jesus knew that we would be alive during this era of human life when He spoke these words to His disciples that day, and that life would be challenging. With “wars and rumors of wars,” weather upheavals, conflict and societal chaos increasing, everyone alive today faces severe mental challenges about tomorrow! What’s going to happen?
In the verses quotes above, Jesus mentioned four times that we are not to worry about tomorrow! He made a way for us to escape the pressures we face and live a worry-free life. It is possible to live a worry free life!
Peter got a revelation of the worry-free life and exhorted us: “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). The Amplified Bible brings out the rich meaning of this verse: “Casting the whole of your care- all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all on Him; for He cares for you affectionately, and about you watchfully.”
The Lord wants to take care of every problem for us, whether it is large or small. And it is never the will of God that we worry. Worry is the cause of much sickness, and is often at the root of mental and emotional anguish that we face.
God’s answer for worry is found in Philippians 4:6: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God.” Years ago, during some particularly difficult days in my life, the Lord quickened this scripture to me as I read J.B. Phillips paraphrase: “Don’t worry over anything whatever, tell God every detail of your need in earnest and thankful prayer.” Through this verse, He showed me a practical way to deal with the daily temptation to worry. I found that if I told God every detail of what bothered me in each area of life, I could overcome the sinful habit of worry! Since God has promised to answer pray, I found that I could replace worry with faith. Worry is really faith in reverse! Worry represents more faith in the problems we face and in our enemy’s ability to hinder than in God’s ability to help us! I saw that when I prayed the prayer of faith about each item that I was concerned about, I could easily win the battle against worry.
When we pray the prayer of faith, we must believe that we have the answer before we see or feel it. Jesus said, “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:24).
When we really believe that God has answered our prayer, we must show our faith by acting like we have the answer before we actually see it! James says that faith without corresponding actions is dead faith (see James 2:17). I show my faith by how I act! And to stand in faith I must act as though God has already sent the answer to my prayer.
I can tell you from experience that with that kind of attitude, worry doesn’t stand a chance in your life! As I began to pray in detail about everything, small and large, and then as I acted as though the Lord had already answered, I won the worry battle. Each morning, I asked the Lord to solve each problem as I laid it out in detail before Him in prayer. And when the thought of the problem came back to me throughout my day, I wouldn’t pray about it again. I would simply remind the Lord that I had already cast that care on Him once and for all, and then I praised Him for working it out. As I did this, I was amazed at how quickly the Lord calmed my troubled mind and emotions.
Many years have come and gone, and I can say boldly that you don’t have to worry. You can replace worry with thanksgiving for answered prayer!
I’ll end with a quote of Philippians 4:6-7 from The Message paraphrase. And I encourage you to begin to act on God’s Word today to end the habit of worry in your life!
“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your 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.”
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