Praying in the Waiting Exemplo

One of my favorite verses is Philippians 4:6 (NLT) – “Don’t worry about anything;  instead, pray about everything.” I try to practice this verse daily because there always seems to be so much that I could spend my time worrying about.

This verse has helped comfort me recently as my nine-year-old daughter has been having chronic headaches. There is rarely a day that goes by where she isn’t in pain, and recently, she has had to go through some intense testing. I have had to fight more worry because I want so badly to control the outcome. I so badly want to take her pain away.

But instead of worrying, I have been committed to praying. Praying for healing. Praying for trust. Praying for God to help me not focus on all the things that could be wrong but help focusing on trusting God and His plan no matter what the outcome may be.  

Taking this verse literally has helped me through this season and so many others like it.  I know that my prayers are never wasted, but my worrying is ALWAYS a waste.  A waste of time; a waste of energy; a waste of focus; a waste of this precious life God has given me to share Him with others. 

While my prayers for this issue remain unanswered, my prayers have replaced my worries and fears with faith and intimacy with God. I’m thankful for Paul giving us his wise advice in Philippians 4:6. I don’t know your issue, but I’d encourage you to run to Jesus through prayer about it. The peace is real, and it is so much better than what it replaces.

Choosing to pray to the One who is in control has brought me so much peace because no prayer is ever wasted. No prayer goes unheard. And if you’re reading this and have never prayed before, start today. He’s listening, and He would love to replace your worries with His perfect peace.