The human mind is not compatible with worry! Worry messes with your mind.
Worry is anxiety about things that you cannot control. This comes, in part, from believing you are alone in life. In response to this, Jesus tells you not to worry about even the most basic needs of life. He even tells you how to pray so that you will not worry.
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus instructs you to ask God for your daily bread. By reading the verses that come after the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6, we see that Christ was talking about more than just asking God for bread. Three times, (in verses 25, 28, and 31), Jesus commands that you not worry about your life, clothes or food. That is amazing! Remember, worry messes with your mind. When you worry, you can’t think well.
Worry is different from faith. Faith is choosing the path of obedience and trusting God to honor you as you obey. For example, the Israelites thought they had reason to worry about the giant Goliath. “How can we defeat this human killing machine?” Surely, if there was ever a good reason to worry, Goliath would qualify.
But, David acted in faith, he was concerned about God’s honor. While others were consumed with fear and worry, David was consumed with God’s honor and killed the pagan champion.
Identify the Goliaths in your life, the things that cause you to worry, the things that seem too big handle, the things that drive you from faith. Ask God to help you to seek first his kingdom in each of these areas. Jesus is not playing mind games with you when he says this. Focus on doing what brings honor to God in any particular situation. This is the focus that will free you from worry.
Based upon Christ’s loving instructions, you can begin to replace worry with a prayer of faith similar to this for your family.
Dear heavenly Father, this day we need food to sustain us, and we need your protection from many things. We face temptation to worry about what we can’t control. We need the power of your Holy Spirit to help us not to worry. By your grace, may we seek your kingdom first in all that we do. Right now, this day, may we serve you. If tomorrow comes then we will deal with tomorrow. Please father, give us what we need today, our daily bread and strength to serve you, so that we can honor you. Help us to flee from worry. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Teach your children to move beyond worry and trust in God’s faithfulness to do what he has promised. Don’t let worry mess with their minds!