30 Days Of Emotional HealthSample

I was shocked to the core. The weird tissue they’d been unsure if they should biopsy had turned out to be cancer. Tiny, yes. Treatable, but wholly unexpected.

Thoughts and fears swirled through my mind as I tried to figure out how to deal with the call I’d just received. I was in my office and needed to get away from work fast, but I couldn’t leave without saying why.

I sobbed out the news to a coworker. And then my boss asked if they could pray for me. As he prayed, I felt God’s peace return to my heart.

Through my surgery and treatments, moments of fear would return, but I drew deeply from the comfort that comes from connecting to the Source of Life. I tried to recognize anxiety as a notification reminding me to recharge spiritually by plugging in through prayer. It helped me deal with the big, scary moments of life; it helps with the everyday ones as well.

We can learn a lot about prayer from looking to Jesus’ time on earth. He prayed often. In today’s verse, He got up while it was still dark out and spent the first moments of His day talking with God. When we follow His example and tune our hearts to God, it prepares us to face the opportunities and challenges ahead and guarantees our one-on-One time doesn’t get crowded out by a busy schedule.

As we incorporate spiritual recharging in our daily schedules, we receive God’s peace and experience His presence. May we be quick to follow Jesus’ example and make prayer a priority as we talk with the One who loves us best.

~Dawn Tolbert

Writer, Bible study leader