Handing Over Our Worries

In the Message version of the Bible, Philippians, chapter 4 reads like this:

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

I heard about a family that made an agreement amongst themselves. When any one of them had a worry or concern, they agreed to write it down on an index card and drop it in a bag. As they wrote down the concern, they would simultaneously lift it up in prayer. Then, they would drop the note in a bag which hung on the back of a closet door. As they did this, they would turn this worry over to God.

Their agreement went a step further: If they found themselves worried or anxious again about a concern that had already been written down, they would have to go and fish it out of the bag. Then, they would pray about it once again, giving it back to God as they dropped it once more in the bag.

I like the idea of this ritual as a reminder to let go. I’ve heard of others writing regularly in a journal – allowing their worries to form written prayers. God is certainly big enough to handle any worries or concerns we may be carrying. I pray that you might find a way today, however, it might look, to let go, and let God.

Let us pray: Almighty God, Giver of Life, we want to be healthy and whole; free from anxiety and worry and stress. We want you to be at the very heart and center of our lives. So, we ask you to lift the burdens from our shoulders, help us relinquish control, and surrender again to you. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.