WHY PRAY WHEN YOU CAN WORRY?

Following Jesus doesn’t entitle us to carefree lives. Yet we can live worry-free.
Learning the operating principles of our relationship with God helps us remove
worry and replace it with trust. Once we reorient ourselves to how things work
when we believe, we approach our problems and issues in a totally opposite
manner than we would on our own. Prayer becomes our first option always, and
if we worry, it’s by choice. The question flips. It’s not “Why worry when you can
pray?” It’s “Why pray when you can worry?”

God’s Responsibility—Psalm 23

 To meet our material needs

 To ensure our emotional comfort
 To see to our spiritual welfare
 To protect us
 To honor and bless us
 To stay with us

Our Responsibility—Matthew 6.25-33

 To look beyond temporal matters

 To recognize our value
 To abdicate control
 To put first things first
 To live in the present

How Do We Do That? We Pray.

 We pray on the authority of Christ—John 14.12-13

 We pray with confidence we’re heard—Proverbs 15.29; 1 Peter 3.12
 We pray in submission and obedience—2 Chronicles 7.14; Philippians
2.12-13
 We pray with faith and vision—Mark 11.24; Hebrews 11.1
 We pray with sincerity and integrity—Matthew 6.5-15
 We pray with perseverance, wisdom, and tenacity—James 1.2-8

Straight-Friendly Online Study Guide June 11 & 13, 2009