Managing Stress with the Word of God

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SEEK THE LORD

It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat.

Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and they are in Hazazon Tamar (which is En Gedi).

And Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. (2 Chronicles 20:1-4)

The first step of Christian stress management and the first thing that you should do when you are faced with any stressful situation is to seek the Lord and inquire from Him what you should do about it.

Pray and ask Him to fill you with the wisdom and understanding that His Spirit gives so that you may know the right thing to do regardless of whether your stressful situation is due to your health failing, your family fighting or your finances floundering.

Seek the Lord first and Do not be wise in your own eyes. (Proverbs 3:7) Do not rush to make any decision, speak hastily or hurry to do whatever you think may be the right thing to do at that particular time.

Learn from King Jehoshaphat and ask for the Lord’s direction first. He did not first order his army to prepare for war even though one of their cities had already being captured by the attackers. He first sought the Lord to find out what they were to do about their stressful situation.

Cry out to Him even in an emergency for He says, Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know (Jeremiah 33:3) and you may receive new insights or get a different outlook into your situation that will enable you make more constructive decisions.

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Seek the Lord First, Not Friends

Seek the Lord’s direction first before you seek the recommendations of friends and specialists for people are not able to see the entire picture as God is able to see it from His Heavenly perspective.

When Job was faced with his stressful situation, his friends thought God was punishing him because of his sinfulness and their advice was based on this understanding.

Nothing could have been further from the truth than this for in God’s own words, Job was a man who feared Him, was blameless, upright and shunned evil. (Job 1:8)

The same could be true for you. Your family and friends are looking at your stressful situation and interpreting it according to their insight and character. Their appraisal and advice may or may not be accurate.

Therefore, seek God’s advice first for He knows everything about your situation including the person who can best help you.

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Go to a Solitary Place to Pray

When you are dealing with a stressful situation, you need to regularly retreat to a solitary place where you can pray. Schedule a time and designate a place where you can go to be by yourself with God.

It can be just 10 min a day to begin with, but it is a sacred appointment that you must honor just as you would any other important meeting. It can be at any hour of the day but it must be at a time when you can be alone without interruptions. Mornings are the ideal time because you have not yet been encumbered by the stresses of the day.

Your solitary place should preferably be a private refuge where you can go and leave your stressors behind. It can be your bedroom, your office, a church or even a park that you pass by every day.

Once you are in your solitary place, write down all the things that are stressing you from the most distressing to the least distressing before you begin praying.

Writing down your problems enables you to express your feelings and say in written words exactly what is on your mind and in your heart without hurting anyone. Keep writing until you have nothing more to get off your chest and you feel relieved. This release will leave you less emotional and more objective about your stressful situation as you begin to pray for it.

If you are not able to physically leave your stressful situation and go to a solitary place, then you can escape to your solitary space.

You can create this space by mentally withdrawing from your surroundings. You can tune out the world and tune in to God in prayer as you walk to the bus stop every morning or even as you are driving home from work. You can even withdraw during a stressful situation such an argument, when you can begin to pray in silence for His guidance.

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Pray with Confidence

Once you escape to your solitary place or space to pray, you have to pray with the confidence that God is listening to you and He will answer your prayers.

You have to have faith in your prayers for in some situations you may find that there is no one you can ask to pray for you. This may be because you have no one whom you can fully confide in about your situation or you may feel that you are protecting the people you love by not telling them your problems because you know that they already have enough problems of their own. Or you may be faced by a sudden, urgent crisis in which you have no time to call anyone to pray for you or you may even find that your stressful situation has isolated you and no one wants to be associated with you.

Whatever your circumstances, do not give up on yourself and on your stressful situation just because you are the only one praying for yourself.

The Bible assures us that We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4: 15-16)

Therefore, regardless of your past mistakes or your present life situation, you can still pray with confidence and God will listen because He is merciful. He is able to sympathize with you in your predicament and He will help you out in your hour of need.

He also promises us that You will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29: 12-13)

Therefore stop whatever you are doing and earnestly seek the Lord with your entire being. Pray with confidence because He is listening to you, He will come to your aid and you can triumph over your stormy stressful situation even if no one else is praying for you.

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Acknowledge That He Is God

So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, and said:

 “O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?

Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham your friend forever?” (2 Chronicles 20:4-7)

When you pray for your stressful situation, begin by acknowledging that God is in control of all things in heaven and here on earth including your stressful situation.

Confess that there is no problem that is too big for Him that He cannot solve and that there is no situation so stressful that He cannot resolve for He is the Almighty God.

King Jehoshaphat acknowledged that God was the one who gave them the land that they were dwelling on and so they believed that He was also able to protect it from those who were trying to take it away from them.

If you are suffering from a physical illness, declare that since God is the one who created your body, He is also able to heal it.

If there is a rift in your marriage, proclaim that since He is the one who joined you and your spouse, He is also able to keep you together for What God has joined together, let not man separate. (Matthew 19:6)

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Cast your Burdens On the Lord

After you have acknowledged the Lord’s sovereignty over your stressful situation, you should now Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. (1 Peter 5: 6-7)

He cares for you and you do not have to develop backaches from carrying burdens that are too heavy for you or develop headaches from trying to figure out how you are going to solve all of them. All you have to do is to Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you.  (Psalm 55: 22)

Cast all the problems arising out of your stressful situation to the Lord in prayer.

Cast all the people who are stressing you to the Lord so that He can deal with them.

Cast your entire stormy stressful situation and all its attendant frustrations and uncertainties to the Lord in prayer and promise yourself that once you have let go of your burdens you will never pick them up again. Let Him carry them for you.

Let Him carry them for you since you cannot move forward if you are always agonizing over the same anxieties or aggravated by the same old problems. You have to lay them down once and for all and then ask Him for what you need.

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Ask in Faith

After you have cast all your stressors to the Lord, you can now ask in faith for whatever you need to resolve your stressful situation for He tells us to Ask, and it will be given to you (Matthew 7:7)

To receive what you are asking for, you have to believe that you will receive it for His Word urges us to Ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:6-8)

As Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1), asking in faith entails being able to see yourself with your mind’s eye receiving the things that you are asking the Lord to give you.

If you are asking for healing, you have to see the laboratory tests returning as normal, the cancerous mass becoming undetectable and the doctors telling you that you have been cured.

If you are praying for your family to be restored, you have to see your marital problems resolving and the wayward child coming back home.

If you are praying for a financial breakthrough, you have to see yourself receiving the appointment letter and cashing the cheque.

See it, pray believing that the Lord can bring it to pass and then live expecting to receive it.

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Nevertheless

O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will. (Matthew 26: 39)

This nevertheless is an important part of your prayers as it allows you to express your desires, wants and needs fully to God and then opens you up to be fully receptive to what He desires and wants from you.

The nevertheless is very important because your prayers should not be to impose your will on God, but rather to align yourself to Him and submit to His will for your life just as Jesus did.

You do not have to fear when you pray this type of open ended prayer for He says I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)

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Pray with Thanksgiving

Finally, after you have cast your burdens, asked for what you need and submitted to His will for your life and situation, you can now thank Him. Thank Him for the blessings that He has already bestowed on you and for the blessings that you are expecting to receive in faith.

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