I’ve been praying the Novena of Surrender to the Divine Will. It’s on my blog if you want to see it. It only takes a couple minutes, but it gives my husband and I a lot of peace when we pray it. It’s so consoling to let things go to Christ, rather than try to handle them ourselves. Aunt Betty shared the following with me in one of our sessions:

“What we focus on, we gravitate to all the more, and the power of that becomes stronger in our lives. So let’s keep our eyes on Jesus.”

The more we focus on our fears, the more we bring them about.  In refusing to do what our compulsion tells us, we give a gift to God.  God gives us what He knows we need.  The Lord heals people who yield, rather than those who fight Him.   Joyce Meyers said, “The Word coming forth out of a believer’s mouth, with faith to back it up, is the single most effective weapon that can be used to win the war against worry and anxiety.”

“Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you. Casting the whole of your care on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.” (1 Peter 5:6-7)

“Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof…Get out of the future.”  To humble ourselves it not to worry because when we worry we still think that we can fix the problem on our own.  Robert Morgan, in his book, 100 Bible Verses Everyone should know by Heart, says “We must manhandle anxious thoughts, turning them forcibly toward Christ and making our minds ‘stay’ on Him.”  He said we acknowledge the difficulty, but keep our focus on the Deliverer. 

God’s grace is with us to handle whatever we need today, but tomorrow’s grace won’t come until tomorrow comes.  When we go into our fears, say, “Lord, forgive me.  Help me stay in the present and get out of my fear.”  The key to not being anxious is to cast your fears on the Lord.  Cast means to pitch or throw.  We can throw our problems to God.  Sometimes it helps people to physically put their arms up in a throwing motion telling them they are turning the problem over.  In the verse below, Jesus isn’t giving us a temporary, inconsistent peace, but a legacy of peace that has the power to forever banish fear and trouble from our hearts.

“You will keep in perfect peace the mind that is dependent on You, for it is trusting in You.” (Isaiah 26:3)