If fear, then prayer.

If fear is always the root cause of all our problems, then by God’s power, we can pray our problems away.

Imagine that I have a car problem. Next, I find myself stressing out about the cost of repair. Now, my problem is not that the car has a problem. Had it been someone else’s car, it would have been the least of my concerns.

The problem is instead that the car has a problem and that I’m responsible to maybe fix it and that I have no clear idea about the issue itself and cost of repair.

All these don’t-knows and the anxiety to see the car fixed can all invite me to stress and stress. Yet, if I pray and be reminded by God of His peace which he gave me for a problem that was exponentially greater than the problem at hand, then I can feel some reliefs and have more room of patience for the stress to dissipate and then seek more information and understanding about the actual problem to find out what my options are so that the fear of the cost of repair that I had may even be gone with the new knowledge of how to repair it myself, or which shop will truly do a certified job.

In the end, it won’t even be a matter of cost of repair, but how to address the stress that seems to be an issue suddenly.

I have no fear against my problems. I don’t welcome them personally. But I do know that once they’re here, they’re here to teach me something new. They’re here to remind of Christ even in the things that seems temporal, things that come and go like the rain and the dry, the sun and the moon, the light and the dark, each for a time.

If you give your stresses enough hope, they will always run out tight corners to press against.

“Still I am certain to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the LORD; be strong and courageous. Wait patiently for the LORD.” (Psalm 27:13-14)

Jesus is the goodness of the LORD. The new covenant is the goodness of the LORD.

“This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:10-12)

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, 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)

You can pray your problems away if the lack of understanding is the root cause of fearing the problems. What one calls a problem, may not be a problem for another with better understanding and more maturity in the area of concern.

A broken down car should not have any direct impact on the health of a human being. But his or her fear of handling a broken down car can even cause one to either skip meals or have more than necessary.

“For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

So whatever the problem is, let’s get to prayer so that we get to breathe before the prayer ends.

Jesus is real. He is alive and well. And he cares for all of us.

And His simple calling is this:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
(‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11:28‬)

All, come to Him, in prayer, with and without words.