Devotions from James Smith’s book, The Good and Beautiful God

More on how we turn our worries into prayer as it says to do in Phil 4:6-7

Once we have done all we can do in a given situation, we simply turn the matter over to God and then worry won’t take over in our lives.  C.S. Lewis once said that a person who has weeds in is garden should not pray about the weeds but pull them up. But when we face situations we cannot change by direct effort, beyond our resources, then we turn the matter over to God. Practically speaking he suggests setting aside 10 -15 minutes a day when we can think about all the things we could be anxious about.  Write them down in a notebook and ask what you can to do remedy each of the situations. Make a note to do the things you can do and turn everything else over to God. Then write specific requests to God.  As we do this we realize God is available to us in every circumstance, large or small. WE begin to see things from God’s perspective, which puts our problems and concerns into a new light.  Somehow as we write things down, it forces us to think about our concerns and if they are driven by false narratives or centered on His kingdom.

Prayer is a gift from God and He gives us this gift to help us discover how loving and caring He is , and to help us grow and mature.  As we focus on Him we will notice how our prayer life includes the well-being of others and reflect the values of His kingdom more than that of the world.
May our worries diminish this day!