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"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." Phillipians 4:6
It is hard for me not to worry. I come from a long line of worryers, so I'd like to say it was engrained into me from birth. However, I know I have to take the blame for it myself. I do it on my own, and I am the only one who can control it by trusting in God.
Jesus talked about worry in the identical accounts of Matthew 6 and Luke 12.
"Therefore, I say unto you, Take no thought for our life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; not yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold, the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Matthew 6:25-34
The end of verse 30 is the kicker: "O ye of little faith." That is really what it all comes down to. Letting worry overcome your life is failing to have faith in God.
WHAT is faith? "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1
WHERE does faith come from? "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:17
WHY do we need it? "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Hebrews 11:6
The Bible tells us how to deal with worry and increase our faith.
1) Ask God for what we need instead of worrying about it (Phillipians 4:6)
2) Actually believe that God will meet those needs (Matthew 6:25-34)
3) Spend as much time in God's word as you can (Romans 10:17)
4) Devote yourself to making your faith perfect by works of love (James 2:17, 22; II Thes.1:3)
Daily Devotional Archive - See our past daily devotionals.