The Antidote for Anxiety

NOTE: The following four days of devotions were included in the printed devotional, but missed in the initial emails, so I am sending them now. My apologies for the error. The final devotion will arrive on Saturday, October 15. - Adam

Daily Reading –

Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

Matthew 6:25-27 “25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?”

In Philippians chapter 4, God reveals the antidote for anxiety. His prescription in the midst of our pain, fear, and uncertainty is always prayer.

It is amazing to me that, when Paul gave us, these words inspired by the Holy Spirit, he was not on a Mediterranean cruise on his way to hang out on the beach. No, he was in prison in Rome, and he was writing to Christians at Philippi, who would experience persecution and pressure in their lives.

While we may never experience the confines of an actual prison, there are prisons of other kinds - prisons of personal pain, suffering, and sickness. There is the bondage of bitterness. Some of you may feel you are in a dungeon of depression. Others are behind walls of loneliness and isolation, fettered by fear and feeling chained by their circumstances.

However, Scripture shows us prayer is the cure for every worry. It should never be our last chance, but always our first choice. Don't wait to pray for something until you've "worried it to death." If you are awake at night, unable to sleep because you can't get your worries off your mind, don't toss, and turn. Just turn to the Lord.

Jesus said, “25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” (Matthew 6:25-27). We don't need to fret about our future because it's all in God's hands.

What is causing you to worry today? Give your worries to God in prayer. The beginning of worry is the end of faith. But the beginning of true faith is the end of worry.

“Prayer should always be our first response to every situation.” - Anonymous