30 Day Prayer ChallengeSample

DAY 27: THE ANTIDOTE FOR ANXIETY

In Philippians chapter 4 God reveals the antidote for anxiety. His prescription in the midst of our pain, fear, and uncertainty is always prayer.

It is amazing to me that, when Paul gave us these words inspired by the Holy Spirit, he was not on a Mediterranean cruise on his way to hang out on the beach. No, he was in prison in Rome, and he was writing to Christians at Philippi, who would experience persecution and pressure in their lives.

While we may never experience the confines of an actual prison, there are prisons of other kinds - prisons of personal pain, suffering, and sickness. There is the bondage of bitterness. Some of you may feel you are in a dungeon of depression. Others are behind walls of loneliness and isolation, fettered by fear and feeling chained by their circumstances.

However, Scripture shows us prayer is the cure for every worry. It should never be our last chance, but always our first choice. Don't wait to pray for something until you've "worried it to death." If you are awake at night, unable to sleep because you can't get your worries off your mind, don't toss and turn. Just turn to the Lord.

Jesus said, "Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink." He said, "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" (Matthew 6:25-27). We don't need to fret about our future because it's all in God's hands.

What is causing you to worry today? Give your worries to God in prayer. The beginning of worry is the end of faith. But the beginning of true faith is the end of worry.

Find peace, purpose and strength with Jesus in prayer.