“…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Philippians 4:6 ESV

One of my “friends” on Facebook is a former math teacher at my high school. When I think about how long it has been since I graduated, I realize that he has earned the right to be called a “seasoned citizen.” But his mind remains sharp, and he regularly posts some pretty good stuff. One post in particular caught my attention. It was in all caps and bold orange letters:

“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. Thousands of people had already seen it by the time I did. At least one person was so touched by those words that she responded:

“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 it. But then I realized that “prayer worrier” may actually be closer to the way many of us practice the art of conversing with God.

We take our requests to God and tell ourselves that we are leaving them with Him. At least, that is what we intend to do. Many times, however, we come away from prayer still carrying the very burden we supposedly gave to God. We pray about it, and then we worry about it. We ask God to handle it, and then we spend the rest of the day trying to figure out how we are going to handle it ourselves.

Prayer is not merely telling God what worries us. Prayer is trusting God with what worries us.

I discovered the difference rather vividly years ago while I was in seminary. Far from being a three-year spiritual high, seminary is, in reality, graduate school—one that can pick at and challenge not only your faith but your entire belief system. The stresses can be immense, causing whatever else is amiss in your life to become exacerbated. Such was the case with me at one point when it seemed as though many bad things were happening all at once.

A classmate of mine must have noticed the look of concern on my face and the change in my demeanor. One day she came up to me and said, “I don’t know all that is going on with you right now, and the details really don’t matter. But if you will let me, I am willing to carry your burden for a few days, so that you can have some relief.”

I had never heard of such a thing between two people. But my pain was so intense that I was willing to give it a try. As she prayed, I could actually feel the burden shifting from my shoulders to hers. It was an incredible experience.

When we met a few days later for me to “take my burden back,” it seemed much lighter—almost as if it were no longer the same burden I had carried into that first conversation.

That experience has stayed with me.

If another human being can come alongside us, listen to our pain, pray with us, and help carry our burdens so that they become lighter, how much more can we trust the God who created us and loves us?

The Bible tells us to cast all our anxiety on God because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:6–7). Jesus reminds us that worrying cannot add even a single hour to our lives (Matthew 6:27). And the psalmist tells us, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken” (Psalm 55:22, HCSB).

Notice that Scripture doesn't promise that every burden will immediately disappear. Sometimes God changes our circumstances. Sometimes He changes us in the midst of those circumstances. And sometimes He sends another person to help carry the burden with us.

But in every case, the invitation is the same: Give it to God.

That is what Paul is talking about in Philippians 4. He doesn't tell us simply to stop worrying—as though we could accomplish that by sheer determination. Instead, he tells us what to do when anxiety comes: pray. Bring our requests to God with thanksgiving.

And then comes the promise:

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:7 ESV

The answer to worry isn't always an explanation. It isn't always a solution. Sometimes the answer is God's presence and God's peace.

So perhaps that Facebook typo wasn't such a mistake after all.

We can be prayer worriers, taking our concerns to God but continuing to carry them ourselves. Or we can be prayer warriors, taking our concerns to God and trusting Him with them.

I know which one I'd rather be.

Prayer

Gracious and loving God, help us to come first to You with our cares and concerns, our worries and anxieties, our pain and our sorrow. Teach us not merely to tell You what troubles us, but to trust You with it. Thank You for loving us enough to carry our burdens with us and to sustain us when they are too heavy for us to carry alone. Guard our hearts and minds with Your peace, and help us to become prayer warriors rather than prayer worriers. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Blessings,

Steve+