Monday, July 21, 2008

Prayer and Stress Relief

What relationship do prayer and stress have? Jesus made the connection. He often went away to pray. Not just His spare change time either. He pulled away at some pretty crucial times and had detailed, intense prayer. While many crowded around to receive a miracle, when others wanted to make him king, during a storm, Jesus PRAYED!!!! When he was most busy and others needed answers or help, he prayed. I don't mean to be redundant but do we get the point? Prayer was a vital part of His life. His disciples grew up praying, but realized that there was something different about his prayer life. They said our prayers don't end up like your prayers, please teach us to pray.

Paul used this principle when he wrote to the church at Philippi. He is in prison and the church is struggling under the conditions of poverty and persecution. He says to them, don't worry about anything but in everything by prayer (much emphasis, intense) with thanksgiving (rehearse God's faithfulness) make your requests known to God AND the peace of God will guard your hearts.

Instead of stressing out and worrying over things in the future that God has in His hands, PRAY intensely. Make time, get alone, give God your undivided attention and pray, then peace that humans can't explain or understand will guard your hearts. STRESS RELIEF!!!

Having a stress free day,

Pastor Kevin

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree thoroughly with Prayer being a major stress reducer. Being a stay at home mom is VERY stressful sometimes and I find that attending Wednesday's prayer service has been a big stress reducer in my life. By dedicating that time in the middle of my hectic week to praise God and pray for others I find that it has reduced my stress tremendously.