anXious, Day 4

Dissecting the verses

Proverbs 12:25 An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.
There are several other verses that also say this same thing throughout Proverbs. It is simple though. When we are heavy with burden of the things we have no control over we are weighted down. When others come around and cheer us up the burden lifts. That is where we seek others and God for solutions and cast the worry from ourselves so that we can serve God with all our heart, mind and soul.

Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
So, if we are actually asking God to search us and test our thoughts, then we would be more likely to give them to him so that he can take care of them. If we lived each day with this verse as our Motto, we'd find that life seems much brighter and less of a task for us to move on each day. It also helps us to be open to the idea that we will have the thoughts and that God cares enough to take the worry from us.

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
What would it look like if in EVERYTHING, we prayed and petitioned and with thanksgiving actually presented our requests to God who wants to take care of it for you anyway? Just think what you could do with all that time you stew over a worry or try to come up with solutions.

Do you have anything to add to this weeks devotional? Please feel free to add it to the praise and prayer for Friday. I will be in Sunriver, Oregon on a retreat with my husband and the Youth Ministries staff. I plan to devote time to the prayer list and requests, so please send them. Thanks.

Please pray for Janice J. This week.

Dear Lord, I hope this week has been a reminder to us to come to you with everything. I also hope it has helped us to remember how much you really care and that you want a relationship with us. I pray that each person who is part of this devotional will look for opportunities to come to you with their requests so that you can show them your love for them, even the tiny details. Lord, I also praise you right now for always being here, even when we are hoarding the anxiety and worrying about things that we have no control over. Thank you for reminding us of those times so that we never have to go through them again. You are in control and we love you for that.

One of my favorite CD's is renewing the heart, a Focus on the family compilation. Here are the words to one of my favorite songs. I haven't figured out how to put it on the blog for you to hear.

A Place For Us
Kim Hill

CHORUS: There's a place for us Where healing waters flow Where peace will come And love will grow By a river of compassion There's a house filled with love Somewhere in His perfect grace There's a place for us When the world outside turns hard and cold And from your eyes the tears overflow When a golden chance slips right through your hands And you've built your dreams on shifting sands When the road that lies ahead seems so hard to find CHORUS There's a tree of life, branches reaching high By a stream of hope that never runs dry There's a home where shelter can be found If you walk on faith to that higher ground Down the road that lies ahead New life's waiting there

http://www.music-lyrics-gospel.com/gospel_music_lyrics/a_place_for_us_25201.asp