"What's your "worry point?" How badly must things get before you shift from warrior to worrier?
In his 1988 hit song, "Don't Worry, Be Happy", Bobby McFerrin, a preacher's kid, encouraged us not to let life's negative experiences get us down. It’s not always easy to put Bobby’s advice into practice, of course!
Surprisingly to some, worry has very direct link to prayer. Why, you ask? It’s because anxiety and prayer are two great opposing forces that simply cannot cooperate. Worry is unnecessary, impractical, it will cripple your prayer life, and eventually destroy your relationships with others.
One of my favorite sayings is:
"Prayer is the ability to listen to the music of the future. Faith is the courage to dance to it today."
Why do worriers have a hard time praying effectively? It's because they are so focused on potential problems facing them that they can’t hear the music of the future. And they are so fearful of all that may go wrong, that they are not inclined to dance either!
One of the enemy’s principle strategies is to arrange conditions in our lives that will provoke anxiety (or worry). Why does he do that?
1. One reason is to embarrass Father God. Imagine how God must feel when His own children question His intentions or doubt his ability?
2. Another reason is to sabotage our praying. Our doubt-filled prayers will not be answered (see James 1:7-8).
You see, worry isn't a failure to trust. It's misplaced trust. It isn't the absence of faith. It's faith in the wrong thing!
Sadly, a worrier has more faith in the enemy's threats than in the Father's promises. Corrie Ten Boom once said, "Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows; it empties today of its strength." The first step toward effective prayer is not to worry.
So, what's your worry point? How badly must things get until you begin move from winner to whiner; from warrior to worrier? Phil 4:6 tells us not to worry but to pray with thanksgiving."
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