Pray instead of panic

We pray instead of panic. We all know there is always something to worry about, to be anxious over, to fret about, to keep us up at night. But this is not God’s choice for we, His children. We are admonished in Philippians 4:6 to “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made know to God.” Yes, when we are caught in the worry trap, it is hard to stop, reconsider our options, and pray and speak over ourselves Philippians 4:6 – but we must. The Complete Wordstudy Dictionary reflects the Greek to mean “To care, be anxious, troubled, to take thought.” The NLT nails it with “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done.” It is not a question of knowing this Scripture, as I am quite sure we all know it—the question for us is—are we practicing it, are we praying instead of panicking? We are instructed in Psalm 55:22 to “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you;”. And we read something very similar in I Peter 5:7 “…casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” Our Lord cares about us and He will sustain us. But we have our part; we must take our cares, concerns, and fears, bundle them up in a strong bag, tie it with a double knot, and cast it upon our Lord! And we cannot run after it, we must leave our bag of worries with King Jesus, as only He can do something about it and give us peace; Remember, in Him, and Him alone is our peace (Ephesians 2:14). He speaks a word of encouragement over us in Isaiah 35:4 “Say to those who are fearful-hearted, be strong, do not fear!” King David experienced God’s deliverance more than anyone, and he strengthens us with “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him… (Psalm 18:6)”. David continues edifying us in Psalm 118:5-6, “I called on the Lord in distress; The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.” David was a man after God’s own heart (I Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22), but he still dealt with concerns, fears and distress. But how he chose to handle them is the key. He did not dwell on them like many of us do; he chose to turn his eyes upon God (Colossians 3:1-3) and cried out to his Lord Whom delivered him time and time again. So, let us do as David did and call on the Lord in our distress as He is sure to answer us and place us into the safety of His broad and loving arms, for Jesus is on our side; we will not fear!