Why Pray When You Can Worry?

The truth is that some people get more satisfaction out of worry than they do out of prayer. But of course that is not true in a positive church such as yours!

I read these words this week: “Some persons, in meeting a great need or challenge in their lives, say in an almost despairing voice, ‘The only thing I can do is to pray’. To pray may well be the only thing we can do in some situation, but to pray is the greatest thing we can do… Prayer acknowledges that we are never without divine aid, that always God is our help in every need… Prayer assures us that God is in charge and all is well. Prayer calms our spirits and soothes our emotions. When we pray, a mantle of peace and tranquillity enfolds us. And, prayer works! Every prayer is answered, for prayer blesses us and makes us channels through which the love, wisdom, and power of God are expressed. To pray is the greatest things we can do.”

Since this is true, who would want to worry? Who wants to spend sleepless nights, tossing and turning, and thinking of all the ways life could get worse. Who wants to turn a worry into a first-class anxiety, and literally make yourself sick? Are there any volunteers? Why pray when you can worry? I say, Why worry when you can pray!

I believe there are three levels or perspectives of prayer, and each of us moves up through the levels as our awareness of God grows stronger and as our concept of ourselves becomes God’s concept of us. Remember Jesus said that in order to enter the kingdom of heaven we had to be as little children. Later He indicated that there is an adulthood in the Christian life, for He said He would give to us the keys to the kingdom. And so you and I are expected to be growing in our awareness of God: As we do our prayers will also grow and develop.

Prayer is a conversation between two people who love each other. God delights in having a conversation with you, and you delight in talking to your Father. Prayer does not have a set formula. So it is important not to get hung up on the form of prayer, for like the farmer head first down the well, God will hear his “Help” just as clearly as the monotone from the cathedral, “Almighty God, Creator of the heavens and the earth, we come to Thee today…”

The first perspective or level of prayer is the prayer of asking. Little children., dependent on their parents for everything, know how to ask. Even before they can talk, they will make their wants known and keep making them known until they get what they want. The little children stage of the Christian life is the stage of asking prayer. There is nothing wrong with this stage; we all go through it. Jesus said “Ask, and it shall be given unto you…”, “Ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full”.

To illustrate, let’s look at Psalm 107 and observe the four stages of asking prayer. In verses 4 and 5 we read of hungry and thirsty people wandering in the wilderness, unable to find a city in which to dwell. In other words, they had a PROBLEM, and verse 6 tells us “they cried unto the Lord in their trouble” — an asking prayer.

The moment they asked, verses 6 and 7 state that God “delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in”. When we pray, God’s PROVISION becomes evident. These people needed to know where to go to find food and shelter, so God guided them.

There is yet one further step in the realm of asking prayer, and this is given to us in verses 8 and 9: “Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of men! For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.” The final step is PRAISE, and it is quite right and proper to thank God for helping you in life’s situations.