The world has yet to see what God can do through a man who is fully committed to Him.
D. L. Moody
People always seem to have things to worry about, but there are three things that we receive more prayer requests for than anything else at our ministry: prayer for people’s children and loved ones, prayer for finances, and prayer for health and healing.
Worry is an enemy of trusting God, and it attempts to continually steal our faith and keep us in the realm of fear. No person ever received what they wanted from God through fear. It is only through steadfast faith and trust in God that we may live the life we truly want to live and have the peace and joy we desire. Let’s look at these three areas of worry, realizing we may apply the principles we see here to any area of our lives.
How will they turn out? Are we good parents? How should we correct them when they need it? Are we too strict, or perhaps not strict enough? If we see our children struggling in areas of their lives as they grow into teenagers and young adults, we often wonder if mistakes that we made are the root of their problems. The devil loves to load parents down with false guilt that is useless and energy-draining.
Dave and I have four grown children and eleven grandchildren, and we have watched them struggle with many different varieties of personal problems. God has taught me that prayer is my greatest friend and the most potent helper I have when it comes to helping them with their struggles. My worrying about what they worry about won’t help them or me.
We may see our children or others we love making bad decisions, and we desperately want to convince them to change. However, most of the time, even if we do know the answer to someone else’s problem, they will not listen to us. Especially teenagers and young adults, it seems, need to make their own mistakes and find out for themselves what works in life and what doesn’t.
Because Dave and I have so many grandchildren, right now we have someone in every age category, and currently we have two teenagers, who both struggle in totally different ways. One of them struggles with insecurities that manifest in many different ways, while the other one feeds anxiety in her life through constant and excessive reasoning and a sense of false responsibility.
It is easy for me at my age and with my level of experience to look at both of them and quickly locate the root of their problems, but it is not easy for them, simply because they are both still figuring life out. They are trying to understand themselves and fighting for their independence while simultaneously clinging to their sometimes childish and youthful ways.
We have other grown grandchildren whom we have watched struggle with other problems and have come through to a safe place; they are now living godly, fruitful lives. One of them struggled with anger, another with drugs, another with extreme rebellion, and I can look back and see that fervent prayer for them produced marvelous results over time. Prayer should never be viewed as a last resort, but instead it should be the first thing we do in every difficulty. Prayer opens the door for God to work, and that door is kept open as we continue to pray and thank God that He is taking care of the things and people that we have committed to Him.
Our four children each had issues, as most children do, but they are now grown men and women, all serving God, and we enjoy wonderful friendship with all of them and could not be more proud of them. You may be going through something with one of your children, or all of your children, and your concern may be based on some serious problems that definitely need God’s attention. The temptation for parents is to worry. We want to help our children! We want to deliver them! We would rather take their pain upon ourselves than watch them go through things. That is how the love of God responded to our sinful condition and the misery it caused, and it is quite normal for us as parents to feel the same way. However, we cannot deliver our children from all discomfort in life, and at times we must, out of true love for them, let them suffer the consequences of the seeds they have sown. We can put confidence in the Scripture in Proverbs that teaches us to train up our children in the way they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it (see Proverbs 22:6).
Even though children may go astray for a period of time, they will be drawn back to doing what is right if we continue praying and setting a good example for them.
If you have a child who has a problem or some measure of brokenness in their life, whose fault is it? Did you make mistakes as a parent that caused their problems, or was it just bad choices on their part? Was it the people they chose for friends or merely the society they are part of today?
I think we spend way too much time trying to place blame and not nearly enough time realizing that no matter whose fault it is, God is the answer! I definitely made mistakes with my children, yet I am actually surprised I was as good a parent as I was. I was raised in an extremely dysfunctional home, filled with one bad example after another, and yet God gave me grace to parent my children much better than I could have imagined. My two daughters have both said, “Mom, considering the way you were raised and the abuse you endured, you did a fantastic job of parenting us!”
We must remember that even if we are not perfect parents, God can overcome and fix the results of any mistakes we made. All He needs from us is a repentant heart and sincere prayer that releases the problems to Him so He can work on them.
I urge you to resist the temptation to worry about your children, and instead trust God to do in them what you cannot do. Only God can change people! I know that when I say, “Don’t worry about your children,” it is much easier said than done, but I can promise you that God is faithful, and although we cannot control the choices that others make, our prayers can open the door for God to work in their lives. There is no problem too great for Him.
We can commit our children to God and He will guide us in our parenting and work with them throughout their lives to keep them on the narrow path that leads to life, or we can worry about them and be fearful they will get hurt or make wrong choices. I have tried both, and I can assure you that committing them to God is by far the best choice. Our faith and trust are released through prayer and our confession. Pray for your children and say what you pray. When they make choices that appear to be in opposition to God’s will, continue trusting Him. Never put a time limit on trust!
We can pray for our children and others that we love and care for the same way that the apostle
Paul prayed for those he loved and ministered to. Use this Scripture as an example of how to commit people to God:
And now [brethren], I commit you to God [I deposit you in His charge, entrusting you to His protection and care]. And I commend you to the Word of His grace [to the commands and counsels and promises of His unmerited favor]. It is able to build you up and to give you [your rightful] inheritance among all God’s set-apart ones (those consecrated, purified, and transformed of soul).
Acts 20:32 (AMPC)
Here is an example of how to pray this Scripture and make it more personal. Let’s say the person you want to pray for is named Sam, and instead of worrying about Sam and perhaps trying to change him, you have come to the place where you are willing to commit him to God. You do so with these words:
“Father, I commit Sam to You. I deposit him in Your charge and I commend him to the Word of Your grace. I trust You to keep Sam safe and draw him into a close, personal relationship with You.”
Now, anytime you are tempted to worry about Sam, turn the worry into a prayer of thanksgiving that God is working in Sam’s life.
I have seen amazing things happen in the lives of my children by following this method myself. At times I have prayed specific Scriptures over one or another of my children for months and have been amazed to watch God work. Worry and fear do not move the hand of God but faith, trust, and commitment do.
We need money to get by in life, and it seems there is never enough of it! Once again, worrying about the problem is not the answer. God instructs us to bring tithes and offerings into the storehouse (His Kingdom work) and He will open the windows of Heaven and pour out blessings. He will also rebuke the devourer for your sake (see Malachi 3:10–11). We cannot expect to reap if we have not sown, so the first order of business is to make sure you are being faithful in your giving, and if you are, then you can have strong confidence to go before God and pray with boldness, expecting all of your needs to be met according to His riches (see Philippians 4:19). We also need to use wisdom with the finances that we do have.
God has not promised to give us all that we want, but He has promised to meet our needs. You are free to ask for anything you want, and He has promised to give us the desires of our heart (see Psalm 37:4), but those desires and wants must not be mere carnal desires that will not benefit us spiritually.
I have watched God provide for us for many years, and His level of provision has increased over the years, but I can definitely say that we had many years that were lean ones. God does not want us to be overly focused on material things, and in His wisdom, He often withholds what we want right now because He has something better in mind than simply giving us what we want. Always remember that a delay is not denial, and we should trust His timing. God may withhold what you think you want because He has something better in mind for you that you are not wise enough to ask for at the present time.
Less worry about our finances and more wisdom applied toward the proper use of them is a great need in our lives. Wisdom does now what it will be satisfied with later on in life, but our society pushes us toward mounting debt through offering us many ways to make purchases and put off paying for them until later. It is called credit, and the more of it we have, the more financial problems we are creating. When we put things on charge cards that we truly cannot afford, we are spending tomorrow’s prosperity today, and when tomorrow comes, we will have nothing except sorrow.
I want to lovingly urge you to be more patient in waiting for things instead of looking for ways to get what you want right now no matter what that means for your future. Saving money to pay cash for items we want is still an option that people should consider, and yet very few do.
Peace is much more valuable than possessions! And when we have oppressive debt, it steals our peace and can cause relationship problems. Where there is a lack of finances, there is always stress and pressure, and that frequently turns into behavior that causes problems in our relationships. If you are already deep in debt, I don’t have a quick-fix answer for you, but I can promise that if you will diligently give to God first, and begin systematically paying off your debt while disciplining yourself not to make purchases you really don’t need, you will eventually be out of debt and have the joy of financial freedom.
There are always exceptions, but in most instances our problem is not that we don’t have enough money, but that we spend more money than we have! Don’t be a person who feels entitled to things that you have not worked for and earned. Be patient and trust God to provide the things you want at the right time!
This is probably the number one worry in the world. We tend to worry about literally hundreds of things that concern us. We worry about our health. If we should get a bad report from a doctor, our minds can quickly become absorbed with thoughts about what is going to happen to us. Will we suffer? Will we die? Although God has provided a great deal of competent medical technology, we need to remember that Jesus is our Healer! He wants us to trust Him and follow His advice in matters concerning our health.
The older I get, the healthier I become, because I continue learning wisdom regarding how to respect the body God has graciously given me. For example, we cannot live under continual stress and expect to be healthy. When I was in my thirties, I always felt bad, but now that I am in my seventies, I feel great most of the time! I attribute most of the change to proper eating habits, exercise, and learning how to live with very little stress, as well as trusting Jesus to work His healing power in me at all times. We don’t have to wait until we are sick to ask for healing! We have the privilege of trusting God to keep us healthy, rather than merely healing us when we get sick.
God delights in taking care of us. His Word states that He is concerned with everything that concerns us:
The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, endure forever—forsake not the works of Your own hands.
Psalm 138:8 (AMPC)
We are His creation, His children, and He is committed to taking care of us if we will allow Him to do so. One of my favorite verses regarding the matter of trusting God is found in 1 Peter. Please read this Scripture carefully.
When He was reviled and insulted, He did not revile or offer insult in return; [when] He was abused and suffered, He made no threats [of vengeance]; but he trusted [Himself and everything] to Him Who judges fairly.
1 Peter 2:23 (AMPC)
This one Scripture sums up everything I wanted to say in this book. We can trust God at all times, in every way, with ourselves and with everything. Nothing that we commit to Him is outside of His control. No matter how people treated Jesus, He did not try to take care of Himself, but instead He continually trusted His Father to do that.
How much stress and unhappiness do we create in our own lives trying to make sure that we are treated properly and that no one takes advantage of us? I believe it is more than we can imagine. As we approach the end of this book, I want to ask you if you are at a place in your life where you are willing to commit yourself and everything that concerns you to Jesus. Will you release yourself to Him and be fully committed to obeying Him in all that He asks you to do as you trust Him to take care of you?
We worry about who will take care of us and whether or not they will do a good job. If we should become dependent upon others, will they treat us well? We worry about what others think of us and whether or not they like us. Are we pleasing them? What is going to happen in the world and how will it affect us? Will we lose our job if the economy tanks?
“What will happen to me?” is surely the greatest fear that most of us have, but the good news is that we can release that concern today and know that God will take care of us.
Ask the Lord to help you keep yourself off your mind, because the less you think about yourself, the happier you will be. While you are trusting God to take care of you, be sure to sow good seed by helping others. Each time you help someone else in need, you are sowing seed for a harvest of God’s help in your own life.
I reached a point in my own life many years ago where my unhappiness was so oppressive I was willing to see anything God wanted to show me in order to simply be happy. It’s a long story, but the short version is that He showed me that I was unhappy because I was selfish. I had my mind on myself most of the time, and through my excessive efforts to try and make sure that I was taken care of, I was hindering Him from being able to do so. God wants to take care of us, but we have to commit ourselves to Him.
When we commit ourselves to a person or a thing, it means we give ourselves completely. We may be committed to a person or a job. We are committed to family and friends. I am committed to the call on my life to teach God’s Word. But above all other commitments, we should commit ourselves to God wholly and completely, asking for His will to be done in our lives. A complete commitment does not have an expiration date. Let me suggest that you pray a prayer daily that goes something like this:
“Father, I commit myself anew into Your hands. I trust You to take care of me in everything and in every way. Guide me and grant me the grace to follow You always. If I get hurt, I trust You to comfort me. If I get sick, I trust You to heal me. If I have a need, I trust You to meet it. If I don’t know what to do, I trust You to show me. I am Yours and You are mine and I trust You! In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
How can we give anything else that concerns us to God until we give ourselves to Him? Perhaps you have become a Christian by receiving Jesus as your Savior, but have you fully committed yourself to His care and keeping? I believe this is our most urgent need!
Your best life can begin right now if you are willing to cast all of your care on Jesus and let Him take care of You!
Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.
1 Peter 5:7 (AMPC)
I have enjoyed writing this book and I pray not only that you enjoyed reading it, but also that it will be a book you return to often as you refresh your commitment to trusting God in all things, at all times!