worriers

Don’t be anxious (don't worry) about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6-7)

The graphic on Facebook grabbed my attention with its all-caps, bold orange letters. It read, "Prayer is the most important conversation of your day. Take it to God before you take it to anyone else!"

That was a great reminder as I began my day. Nearly 100,000 others had seen it by the time I did.

At least one person was so touched by those words that she wrote, "I so believe in this magnificent power! This power saved my daughter from having to have major life altering surgery. Praise God and all my prayer worrier friends who joined me in asking for Gods intervention in the matter! Glory Be To God! Amen! Thank You God!"

Yes, you read that correctly. She meant to write "prayer warrior," but it came out "prayer worrier."

I laughed out loud when I read that. But then I realized that "prayer worrier" may be closer to the way we actually practice the art of conversing with God. We take our requests to God and pretend that we are leaving it with Him.

At least that is what we intended to do.

Many times, though, as we come away from prayer, the burden stays with us, and we spend a great deal of time worrying about the very thing we supposedly left with God.

But the Bible says that we can cast all our anxiety on Him, because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:6-7). Jesus implied that we cannot even add a single hour to our lifespan by worrying (Matthew 6:27). And we are told that as children of God, we have a special privilege: “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken” (Psalm 55:22, HCSB).

According to the Scriptures, we can be prayer worriers, or prayer warriors. I know which I’d rather be.

 -rocky henriques