Pray, Hope, and Don't WORRY!

I thought I'd write about worry since thats what I find myself doing when I'm afraid or stressed. I went to a conference this past weekend and it really opened up my eyes to why worrying is pointless and unnecessary.


I'm sure we've heard the famous Padre Pio "Pray, Hope and Don't Worry" Easier said then done right? You bet!   Everyday we are faced with stresses and with stresses comes worry. (Or it can go the other way around) The message I recieved from the conference was that worrying is a sin! It is completely and totally from satan trying to tear your happiness and trust away from God.

When we let worry in,whether it's about money situations, the future, or even school tests, we think we are being responsible in our thinking. We think we are spending this time well b/c we think if we don't worry then we are simply not caring. This is a lie. We need to look at the difference between worrying and just simply caring.
At the conference I went to this past weekend, there was a very gifted speaker named Damian Stayne. He works miracles by allowing Jesus to work through him to heal people of sickness and even cancer! He is very blessed with this gift of healing.
He adds on to the topic of worry saying, "People have thought that worry is really "responsible thinking ahead" and that preoccupation with making financial provision and having material security were a godly focus. Here the devil often highjacks the responsible person's good intentions so as to TAKE their attention from attentiveness to the WORD SOWN in them. Are you one of them? As a holy man once told me "Worry is a sin even worry about spiritual things!" THese worries and precoccupations are active weeds, planted by the enemy in our lives. They fight for the territiory in our hearts. They must be uprooted!"

So how do we overcome this worry circle?....

We need to TRUST in God!!! I can't say it enough! But you can't just wake up one morning and say "Today I am finally going to trust in God." Trust is a GIFT.  You NEED to spend more TIME with Him! You need to pray, pray, pray! God will give you the gift. So form a relationship with Him. Ya know, He IS your Father who loves you like Crazy! Get to know that guy up there!

At the conference Damian says "Worry is the absence of trust and trust is a gift from God. Other than praying for and increase in trust, we can help to overcome worry by the practice of regulary THANKING God for all the blessings He has given and done for us!"

Even though this is the truth, it is hard to take this to heart. It is hard for me to take this to heart and start living it! It's definitley a journey, but keep your head up because God is up there. He is ALIVE!
Damian says "The Ground can also be hard for lack of water. If we are not receptive to the Holy Spirit the "living water" our heart will be unable to welcome the word sown there. WE become like the pahrisees who knew the word in their MINDS but because of their hardness of heart they never experience its life giving power.  A plant with no roots will easily be blown away when there is a bit of wind, dry up if there is a bit too much heat, drown if there is a little too much water."
I love that saying! If your heart is stone how will you let the truth of Jesus soak in?  You might know the truth in your mind but it is no where to be found in your heart.  Pray that your roots grow deep enough so that they are stable.  Pray that your roots are not just resting on the surface where they can easily be blown away.  Letting only the truth penatrate your mind and not your heart is like living on the surface.

Because once you know the truth in your heart you can start LIVING it! and this is what we are fighting for.  We are fighting everyday to ignore the lies and start inviting the truth.
So  let your hearts be open! Let Christ's truth shine in. Then let it radiate out to others.  and feel the true freedom you were made for! <3