How to Kill Worry:

Matthew 6:34 
Do not worry about tomorrow…

Yeah.  I know what you’re thinking, “easier said than done”.  It’s true.

This concept that is all throughout scripture is probably one of the hardest verses to actually follow through.  “Do not murder”, “Do not steal”…those we can probably handle if we really focus, but “Do not worry”, well, that one seems slightly overrated.

I am a worrier.  I find it hard to let go of control and allow life to just happen.  Even today, I find myself preoccupied with a little bit of worry.  Things that can aggressively consume my mind if I’m not careful.

Over the years I’ve come to depend on a few cognitive doctrines to help me wrestle with the intrusiveness of my worry:

1. Take worry seriously.  Don’t allow yourself to worry about anything- from things as simple as the weather to things as serious as your loved ones.  Worry is like a poison, that can easily spread into every part of your life and eventually conquer your reality.
2. Remember that worry is not from God.  It’s not an innocent process of “thinking through things” as we may try to justify it.  Worry is directly linked to fear, and where there is fear, there is a lack of faith.  These thoughts are not from God, and the longer we allow them to permeate our mind the more we are distancing ourselves from God’s perspective and pulling away from His presence.  
3. Consider what worry is replacing: Prayer.  When we worry, we are allowing thoughts that could be devoted to prayer to be sidetracked to fuel for our anxiety.  Worry plays the part of our prayers, and in the end, nothing gets accomplished.  
4. Remember, something supernatural happens when we deliberately choose to give our worries to God in prayer.  You don’t have to understand it, and you can’t explain it, because it doesn’t make any sense, but it’s guaranteed.  Our Lord promises it.  When we act on what we believe, God exchanges our worry for true, unrivaled peace.  

So whatever is on your mind today, there is only one thing to consider:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7).