Topic: The Only Way to Release Your Worry [RICK WARREN Devotional 31 December 2024]
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The Only Way to Release Your Worry
by Rick Warren — December 31, 2024
“Let go of your concerns! Then you will know that I am God. I rule the nations. I rule the earth.”
Psalm 46:10 (GW)
Have you ever been so worried that you felt like you physically weighed more because of the emotional weight you were carrying?
Worry is emotional weight that hinders your progress to spiritual maturity. The Bible says in Proverbs 12:25, “Worry weighs a person down” (NLT). It starts to make you feel heavy, pressed down, and depressed.
God doesn’t want you walking through life like that. He doesn’t want you loaded down with burdens and cares and fears and anxieties. He wants you to release those things.
Psalm 46:10 says, “Let go of your concerns! Then you will know that I am God. I rule the nations. I rule the earth” (GW).
When you worry, you’re “playing God.” You’re acting as if God isn’t in control and doesn’t care about you. You’re trying to take matters into your own hands.
Instead, God wants you to relax and just let him be God. He can take care of the things in your life that have weighed you down for so long.
You know all those things that you worried about last year that didn’t happen? You need to stop worrying about them now. You need to let them go.
How do you let go of your worries? You don’t get rid of worry through fads, diets, pills, seminars, or even therapy—though some of those things can be helpful in our lives. There is only one way to get rid of worry: by praying about it.
You can worry, or you can pray. You’re going to do one or the other throughout your life. The more you worry, the less you’re going to pray. The more you pray, the less you’re going to worry. Prayer is the way you release your worries and heavy burdens.
“Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness . . . will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life” (Philippians 4:6-7 MSG).
Talk It Over
- What are the worries that you feel weighed down by today?
- What do you need to say to God about your worries?
- When you let go of your worries, what does it leave space for in your life?
God wants you in his family.
God made you to love you, and one of the places you see that most clearly is on the cross. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, God made it possible for you to become part of his family for eternity. No matter what you’ve done or where you’ve been, you’ve got a place in God’s forever family ready and waiting for you. The invitation is wide open. Just believe and receive.
Are you ready? Here is a prayer you can start with: “Dear God, I know when I die, I’m going to give an account of my life to you. I know I have sinned against you, and I have lived by my plan, not yours. I want that to change, starting right now. I want to turn away from my sins and toward you.
“Thank you for sending Jesus to die for everything I’ve done wrong so I don’t have to pay the penalty. I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I know only your grace can save me.
Jesus, thank you making me acceptable for heaven, and I humbly ask you to save me. I believe in you, Jesus, and accept you as my Lord and Savior. And I believe you will keep your promise to save me instantly, certainly, completely, and eternally. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”
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