Day 18 of 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting - Pray Instead

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.—Philippians 4:6–7, MSG

Worry seems inescapable in modern life. No doubt there is plenty to worry about: our kids, the economy, global warm-ing, war, disease… Sometimes it might seem that worry has even replaced Jesus as the focal point of our lives. Jesus Himself admonished us several times not to worry. And the apostle Paul told us that there is an antidote to worry…prayer.

When we worry about something, we are spending energy on it, wondering what might happen, rehearsing the “if on-lys” and “what ifs” in our mind. Why not take that same energy and refocus it on prayer instead? When we worry, we are simply talking to ourselves about our fears, but when we pray, we are taking those fears to God. We can’t control the future, but as Anne Graham Lotz said throughout her book Fear Not Tomorrow, God Is Already There, our timeless God owns the future. He knows exactly what is going to happen, and He promises to be with us every step of the jour-ney.

As we are nearing a close to this season of prayer and fasting, let’s heed Paul’s words to “let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers.” Then the peace of God will guard your heart.

Growing an unshakeable trust in God as you face your tomorrow is not about self-improvement or mastering your circumstances, but about God—who He is, what He does, and how we can trust Him. —Anne Graham Lotz

We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties. —Oswald Chambers

Bible Reading Plan: Genesis 18

Prayer Focus: What consistently causes you to worry? Today, recapture each worried thought and send it to God as a prayer. See how dramatically your outlook improves when the peace of God is activated through prayer!