Why worry, when you can _________?

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As a boy, I remember singing the following chorus:

Why worry when you can pray?

Trust Jesus, He'll be your stay.

Don't be a doubting Thomas.

Rest fully in His promise;.

Why worry, worry, worry, worry,

When you can pray?

Could the prevention to worry be as simple as praying? It could be that simple. But more than likely the solution to worry is a greater and more realistic vision of God.

When we worry it is because we feel insecure. The circumstances around us are overwhelming. We are discontent. In our mind we say, "what if such and such happens?" or "if only I had done this or that." The focus is on my inability to handle the situation I am facing. And practically speaking I have become an atheist. I am living as if God did not exist.

In order to understand this better consider the contrast between the army of Israel versus David as they both faced Goliath of Gath.

The giant Philistine, Goliath, taunted the army of Israel regularly with the challenge to fight him. The giant would address the army by saying, "If he (that soldier from Israel's army) is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us" (1 Samuel 17:9).

But all of Israel . . . were dismayed and afraid (1 Samuel 17:12). Those worried and afraid included King Saul, who was a full foot taller than most every other man in the nation. The whole army including the older brothers of David, fled when they saw the giant and it says, they "were greatly afraid" (1 Samuel 17:24). The army had weapons designed to kill. They had been trained to kill. But they failed to believe God would preserve the nation of Israel for His glory.

David however had no worry or fear regarding the giant. The fact of the matter was the youth told King Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight this Philistine" (1 Samuel 17:32). In other words he could not figure out why anyone's courage would fall down and fail before the giant. He was compelled to fight the warrior, no worry. But what did he possess or own, such that there was "no fear"?

Did he pray? Well he might have prayed. The text nowhere said he prayed. Had he prayed he would have called on the "Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel" (1 Samuel 17:45). His confidence and freedom from fear or worry in the face of danger was because of his high regard for God and not in his own ability. He trusted the Lord who "does not save with sword and spear" (1 Samuel 17:47) to defeat Goliath. So David trusted the Lord to deliver the giant into his hand as he slung the stone from his sling to slay him. And God did deliver the giant into the hand of the youth David.

So, David did what any of the Israelites could have done had they the same confidence in God. David is a hero. But his heroics were rooted in his firm belief in the God of Israel not even in the accuracy of his sling. He believed God would preserve the nation of Israel for His glory. THE REAL HERO IS GOD! God is faithful and true to His word.

We can possess the same faith as David or we can be anxious like King Saul and his entire army. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount nailed it.

Matthew 6:25–34 (NASB95) — 25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28 “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

"Why worry when you can trust in God?" And when you trust in God, "why worry when you can pray to Him?" And that brings us to the oft quoted following verses concerning anxiety:

Philippians 4:6–7 (NASB95) — 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The principle of this verse works when you believe God as He is revealed to us in Scripture. I hope you believe.