07/06/2018
Good advice...
Evening meditation: Praying when you are worried.
One of the most vivid scenes in the entire New Testament is the story of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.
“He was in such agony and he prayed so fervently,” writes Luke, “that his sweat became like drops of blood falling down on the ground” (22:43).
While some painters would portray Jesus sweating blood, it’s more likely that Luke meant that Jesus’ sweat was so profuse it was as if blood was flowing.
Few if any of us will face the type of death that Jesus did. Nonetheless, all of us have faced anguish and worry in our lives.
And in Gethsemane Jesus offers us a model of how to bring our worries before God—honestly.
Some worries may not warrant being carried to prayer. If you are worried about what you are going to cook for dinner later in the day, it may simply be a distraction. On the other hand, if it’s an important meal, perhaps it’s an important thing to bring to prayer.
But the bigger worries of life—a serious illness, a tenuous job, a stressful family situation, and so on—always warrant being raised up to God. Why would you not be honest with God about what’s on your mind?
The best prayer may be the simplest: “Help me, God.”
But remember that Jesus asks us to move away from worrying, as far as possible: “Can any of you by worrying add a moment to your lifespan?” (12:25).
So another prayer may be just as simple, and just as important: “Help me worry less, God.”
(Reprinted from the July issue of Give Us This Day: www.giveusthisday.org.)