I ChooseSample

I Choose Prayer Over Worry

There I lay alone in a white tunnel, accompanied only by my thoughts and the occasional buzz, clank, or beep emanating from the machine. When the symptoms arose over six months ago, I never envisioned I’d find myself here, with frightening possibilities hovering over me. What’s causing the symptoms? MS? A brain tumor? As I thought about the potential test results, I felt my heart begin to race and tears surge to my eyes. Blinking them back, I reached for the only thing that kept me grounded over the last several months. “Lord, I’m scared, and I need You.”

In a world of endless "what ifs" and always changing “what nows,” it’s easy to focus on our circumstances. We allow the bad medical report, the failing economy, the increased violence on the news to plant seeds of fear and worry in our lives. That’s the danger of worry. It grows and takes up precious space in our hearts and minds.

There is good news too. There is something we can do that not only defeats worry, it takes its place. We can choose to take our eyes off of our wavering circumstances, and instead focus on the one who never changes. This is what happens when we pray. In those moments, when we choose prayer over worry, we enter into the presence of our sovereign, loving, wise, unchanging God. We bring Him our praises and our fears. He is famous for replacing worry with peace, fear with trust, and uncertainty with hope. So, what worry is taking up space in your heart? Choose to take it captive and bring it to God in prayer today.

Pray: God I give You _____. Will You come with Your power and do Your work in _______? I believe in You God, I trust Your ways, and I put my hope in You.

Divina Bruss, Life.Church staff spouse and mom to four