Give your burdens to the Lord,
and He will take care of you. (Psalm 55:22)

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. (1 Peter 5:7)

Anxiety and stress bear down hard on our bodies causing all kinds of potential health challenges. Why? Because we weren’t meant to carry it. We were designed to live stress-free lives by learning to roll our cares over on the One who cares for us.

The first step is trusting God. You can’t delegate something to someone you don’t trust. Trusting God is simple when you know Him. We get to know Him through reading His auto-biography –His Word – and through talking with Him in prayer.

Talk to Him today about the issue in your life that is causing the most duress. Lift it up to Him, literally in your hands. Ask Him to take it. You might have to do this time after time if you find yourself reaching up and grabbing it back. But eventually You will learn to leave it with Him. Confess these promises when you are tempted to worry. Remember, these are promises to those who have made Jesus the Lord (Leader) of their lives! If you haven’t done that, do so today. Just give Him your life and ask Him to do something special with it.

Then keep your ear tuned to His voice! He will offer you wisdom in how to overcome the battle you are facing that is causing anxiety; He gives wisdom to those who ask in faith (see James 1). Pour out your heart to the Lord about the details of your struggle – He knows all about it, so you can be brief, but it is helpful and good to clarify your thoughts through expressing this to Him specifically – sometimes the answers come in the process of articulating your situation in prayer.

Father,

I come to you today stressed out, worn out with trouble, and freaked out. You have invited me to hand off these worries to you. As I do, I, Lord, I fully expect You to give me wisdom to deal with this problem step by step from a fear-free stance. [Talk with Him about this situation.]

Thank you for your promise to carry these concerns! Thank you for your promise for wisdom! Thank you, Creator of the Universe, for carrying me.

Amen