ONE: FCA Reading Plan For CompetitorsSample

Anxiety

By Roger Lipe

READY:

“Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.” – Proverbs 12:25

SET:

Anxiety seems to coat our hearts with lead and turn our legs to limp spaghetti when we compete. Suddenly doubt, confusion and frustration weigh us down. All these lead to a performance on the court, field, mat, track or in the pool that’s far less than our best.

But there is a great promise in Proverbs 12:25; it says that a good word cheers one up. And this can be so key in the field of competition. 

Encouragement is a powerful tool for an athlete. A simple word, a kind expression or a well-timed compliment can put a charge into a teammate or a coach, thus lifting the weight he or she had been carrying. And it can make all the difference both in the game and in their heart.

GO:

1. In the hours prior to a competition, what are the things that bring anxiety to your mind and heart?

2. What is the usual effect of such anxiety? How do you deal with it?

3. How does a good word from a coach or teammate affect your feelings of anxiety?

4. How and when do you deliver similar powerful and good words?

WORKOUT:

Philippians 4:6-7

1 Thessalonians 5:11

OVERTIME:

“Merciful Father of Peace, I confess my heart is bent toward anxiety and worry. Those thieves rob my body of its strength, my heart of its faith, and my soul of its resolve. Thank You for my teammates, coaches, family and friends who speak good and kind words to me. Their words of counsel and cheer encourage my heart, they embolden my spirit, and they renew my mind. With renewed strength and emboldened spirit I will compete to honor and to worship You. I pray in Jesus’ strong name. Amen.”