Don’t worry about anything;
instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need,
and thank him for all he has done.
Then you will experience God’s peace,
which exceeds anything we can understand.
His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7

The story of Jesus walking on the stormy waters of the Sea of Galilee and calling Peter toward Him is one of Jesus’ best-known miracles. It is a powerful image that is easy to describe and remember. It represents so vividly the choice we have when we face the storms of life.

We can focus on the storm and worry about every possible scenario that could possibly happen.

OR …

We can focus on God. We can pray, tell God what we need, thank Him for all He has done and then experience His promised peace in the midst of any storm.

When we pay attention to God and focus on Him, there is a sense in which we walk above the problems that surround us. It is not that we are no longer threatened. It is not that our pain is gone. The problems and challenges are still there, but we have hope and can remain peaceful in spite of the turmoil that swirls around us.

The moment we pay attention to the storm and take our eyes off God, however, we lose our peace and begin to sink into the depths of worry and despair. Worry is definitely a “Peace Buster”.

When Peter bailed out of the boat to be with Jesus, he walked on water just fine until he focused on the waves around him. As soon as he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the surrounding storm, he sank like a rock. When our focus is on our surrounding circumstances – worry takes over and our peace will sink out of sight too.

I have spent my fair share of time sinking beneath the storms of life. And as a result of that my peace ebbs and flows. To be honest, I hate being blindsided. So when an unexpected storm hits, it initially throws me for a loop. I pay attention to the storm. As the first shock wave hits me – I worry – I am afraid – I get angry – I feel guilty. I begin to sink.

BUT the difference is that I have learned that I don’t have to sink. Just as Jesus reached out his hand and rescued Peter, the Holy Spirit reaches out to rescue me by reminding me that I do not need to focus on the fears of my flesh – I have a choice. I can choose to change my focus from the storm to my Savior. It is then that I experience His peace.

“I am leaving you with a gift-peace of mind and heart.
And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.
So don’t be troubled or afraid.”
JOHN 14:27 (NLT) WORDS OF JESUS

On the journey with you,
Jan Dravecky

Anxiety, Breaking the Chains of Worry, Peace, Words of Endurance

Thank God for All He Has Done

By Nathan Solla on

July 20, 2011

- Anxiety, Breaking the Chains of Worry, Peace, Words of Endurance

Nothing aggravates me more then when I am told to thank God for my suffering because I never feel thankful for the adversity that seems to occur continuously – on various levels – in my life. AND while I can verbally go through the motions and thank God for the adversity – God knows my heart. I always find myself asking God for forgiveness for my ungrateful heart.

BUT I have learned that when adversity strikes and I start down that ungrateful worry trail it helps to remember all God has done and promised for me. It does not change my circumstances but my focus is diverted from all my worries and obsessions to our awesome God and His Truth. After I consider all He has done it is then I can go to God with a true thankful heart.

“I will consider all your works
and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”
PSALM 77:12 (NIV)

So when you find yourself on that ungrateful worry trail it will help to remember that no matter what happens to us during this earthly life, as a child of God we know and can be thankful for …

The gift of eternal life …

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
JOHN 3:16 (NLT)

Jesus is preparing a place for us, Heaven, our eternal home …

“My Father’s house has many rooms;
if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
JOHN 14:2-3 (NIV)

We will live with God in heaven where He promises there will be no more suffering …

I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying,
“Look, God’s home is now among his people!
He will live with them, and they will be his people.
God himself will be with them.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes,
and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain.
All these things are gone forever.”
REVELATION 21:3-4 (NLT)

The Lord is faithful to keep His promises …

The LORD always keeps his promises;
he is gracious in all he does.
PSALM 145:13 (NLT)

AND no matter how difficult the circumstance we are going through – He promises the following …

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. ROMANS 8:28 (NLT)

As I consider all He has done over the span of my life, this gives me great hope for any future circumstance – breaking the chains of worry – for the Lord has been faithful to me.

The thought of my suffering and homelessness
is bitter beyond words.
I will never forget this awful time,
as I grieve over my loss.
Yet I still dare to hope
when I remember this:
The faithful love of the LORD never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
LAMENTATIONS 3:19-23 (NLT)

On the journey with you,
Jan Dravecky

Anxiety, Breaking the Chains of Worry, Hope, Words of Endurance

Tell God What You Need

By connie on

July 20, 2011

- Anxiety, Breaking the Chains of Worry, Hope, Words of Endurance

We are told over and over again in the Scripture to tell God what we need. I had faithfully followed this command by presenting my requests to God daily. But sadly, looking back, it was my habit that if I did not receive an answer within my time frame I would then “lose heart” and stop praying assuming that God was not going to answer my prayers.

But all that changed for me when I read the Parable of the Persistent Widow found in Luke 18:1-8. Jesus told that parable to His disciples to …

“… show that they should always pray and never give up.“
LUKE 18:1 (NLT)

Since that time, my prayers to God are like the Persistent Widow’s requests of the Judge. My prayers – filled with His Word and Promises – continually and consistently pound the Gates of Heaven. I believe and trust Jesus’ when He said …

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for.
Keep on seeking, and you will find.
Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.”
MATTHEW 7:7 (NLT)

I also trust that my persistence may be accompanied with a confidence that my prayers go directly to the throne of grace – our High Priest – Jesus.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way,
just as we are—yet was without sin.
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence,
so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
HEBREWS 4:15-16

And when my worries are so consuming that I don’t even know how to pray, I can trust that the Holy Spirit will intercede for me.

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.
For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for.
But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying,
for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.
ROMANS 8:26-27 (NLT)

How awesome is it that you and I can know that we can take our worries and continually bring them to the throne room of God. We along with King David, can tell Him all our needs and all of our bases are covered!!!!

Bend down, O Lord, and hear my prayer;
answer me, for I need your help.
Protect me, for I am devoted to you.
Save me, for I serve you and trust you.
You are my God.
Be merciful to me, O Lord,
for I am calling on you constantly.
PSALM 86:1-3

On the journey with you,
Jan Dravecky

Anxiety, Breaking the Chains of Worry, Hope, Prayer, Words of Endurance

Pray About Everything

By Nathan Solla on

July 11, 2011

- Anxiety, Breaking the Chains of Worry, Hope, Prayer, Words of Endurance

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.
His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7 (NLT)

Something will wake me up in the middle of my sleep – usually it is a hot flash, bathroom stop or Dave tossing and turning. And right when I am ready to snuggle in and go back to sleep – BAM – that is when they hit me and overtake any hope for sleep – WORRIES – my terrors of the night! And to make matters worse, my worries always seem bigger – more magnified – more terrifying in the middle of the night.

I have learned though that focusing and ruminating on all of my worries brings no resolution to my problems or cares nor does it allow for sleep but bringing my cares before God – my helper – does.

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
1 PETER 5:7 (NLT)

How awesome is it that we as children of God can take our worries to God and know that He hears our prayers.

The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help.
He rescues them from all their troubles.
PSALM 34:17

AND He not only hears our prayers but He answers them.

I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me.
PSALM 120:1

AND it is even more comforting and assuring knowing that …

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us,
to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
EPHESIANS 3:20 (NLT)

So now when I wake up in the middle of the night and my terrors of the night consume me – I turn to God, give Him all my worries and cares through prayer and then …

I will lie down and sleep in peace,
For you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety.
PSALM 4:8

I lie awake thinking of you,
meditating on you through the night.
Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.
PSALM 63:6-8 (NLT)

On the journey with you,
Jan Dravecky

Anxiety, Breaking the Chains of Worry, Healing, Hope, Words of Endurance

Breaking the Chains of Worry

By Nathan Solla on

June 26, 2011

- Anxiety, Breaking the Chains of Worry, Healing, Hope, Words of Endurance

Don’t worry about anything;
instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.
His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7 (NLT)

Worrying is non-productive, burdensome and exhausting. But it is not easy to simply stop worrying and turn off anxiety like a faucet – OH wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could!!!!! But for those who live with a serious or life-threatening illness, the tendency to worry and become anxious is especially problematic because worry and anxiety rob us of peace, exhaust us and undermine our ability to make good decisions.

Yet God is well aware of our human tendency to worry. Scattered throughout His Word, the Bible, we find warnings against worry and advice for dealing with anxiety. In Philippians 4, we find great instruction for breaking the chains of worry – let’s take a closer look …

“Don’t worry about anything …”

God doesn’t suggest or encourage us not to worry – He commands us not to worry! When we worry, we carry a burden God never intended for us to bear. No wonder we buckle under its weight!

When we worry, it’s as if we are saying to God, “You really aren’t in control here. You may be able to keep the universe running, the stars shining and the planets spinning but You surely can’t handle my problem.” The truth is we don’t trust God.

“God’s children slander Him by worry and anxiety.”
OSWALD CHAMBERS

At the root of much of our worry and anxiety is unbelief. Our faith is anemic. We don’t actually believe God will help us. Like the father of the demon-possessed boy in Mark 9:24, we come to God for help but we aren’t sure He can help. The good news is, like this desperate father we can admit our unbelief. We, too, can cry out to God …

“I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”
MARK 9:24

How do we do battle with unbelief? How does our faith grow? One answer is found in Romans 10:17 …

So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.
ROMANS 10:17 (NLT)

The more time we spend in the Scriptures, the more our faith is strengthened. Daily time in the Scriptures is one of the most effective tools for winning the war against worry. As we read about God’s faithfulness to His people, learn about His attributes and character, see His power displayed time and time again, the Word of God – “which is living and active” HEBREWS 4:12 – begins to transform us from the inside out. Our faith grows and as it grows – our worries subside.

Some worriers have a slightly different challenge. They readily believe that God is capable of handling their problems. Their problem with God is the secret belief that God may not love them enough to help them with their problem. They have no doubt that God is capable – they are not sure that He is willing.

As one confessing worrywart shared, “While I know God is big enough to handle my problem, I sometimes question whether He really loves me enough to help. I wish I didn’t question His love but it is the most difficult thing in the world to believe that an invisible God – the God of all creation – could love me.

When we question God’s love for us we feel insecure, unworthy and abandoned. We then feel totally responsible for our well-being – our future – our problems. So we worry. We may know from 1 John 4:16 that “God is love.” We may have memorized John 3:16 “For God so loved the world…” but somehow that love has not touched our hearts. Although we know it intellectually, we aren’t convinced in the depths of our soul that it is really true.

Like the father in Mark 9, we stand before God lacking, knowing that we need God’s help to grasp what He is offering. Like that desperate man, we can echo his honest prayer and ask God to help us overcome our doubts about His love for us.

Our need to know of God’s love is nothing new. Paul prayed that the Christians in Ephesus would grow in their knowledge of God’s love. We can employ this prayer for ourselves as well. And we can be assured that our honest prayer for God to reveal His love to us will not go unanswered.

We pray this prayer with you and over you …

Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.
Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.
And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should,
how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.
Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
EPHESIANS 3:17-19 (NLT)

On the journey with you,
Dave and Jan Dravecky

Anxiety, Breaking the Chains of Worry, Peace, Words of Endurance

The Ebb and Flow of Peace

Anxiety, Breaking the Chains of Worry, Peace, Words of Endurance

Thank God for All He Has Done

Anxiety, Breaking the Chains of Worry, Hope, Words of Endurance

Tell God What You Need

Anxiety, Breaking the Chains of Worry, Hope, Prayer, Words of Endurance

Pray About Everything

Anxiety, Breaking the Chains of Worry, Healing, Hope, Words of Endurance

Breaking the Chains of Worry

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