How God can help us stop our worry cycle

Hey lovelies,

I hope you’re having a fabulous week.

Worrying is something we all do at some point in our lives about one thing or another & right now, worry is everywhere.

Worry is something we’ve turned into a habit & we do it about all sorts of things from the utter mundane silliness of life, to the life changing decisions that are being made around us. We are now faced with the fact that we must undo what years of worrying have done to us! Worrying is easy, the thought pops into our heads, we dwell on it, sometimes we even play out worse case scenarios in our heads on repeat, where does this all get us? No where! We’ve created our very own worry cycle, where we worry about something, calm ourselves down, worry about something, calm ourselves down……….you get the picture.

Finding freedom from worry takes time. We must learn to recognise when we’re worrying & replace those thoughts with ones that not only bring us a good return but that allow us to live in peace.

Taken from my bible app – YouVersion. I used the app, along with the book I mentioned in last Friday favourites to get a lot of this info.

Ways to help stop your worry cycle –

Pray instead

Whether you believe in God through Jesus Christ or not, I know that you’ve probably prayed for &/or about something at some point in your life.

Prayer can help in so many ways, it stops the current thought in it’s tracks, it allows us to focus not on the worrying thought, it gives God a chance to help you because he’ll only do it if you ask him to. In the bible, in Philippians chapter 4, verses 6 & 7, we’re told not to be anxious or worry but to pray instead. It is said that we can not worry & pray at the same time & I know which one I’d rather be doing but we worry more often than we pray because, worrying comes naturally to us, praying does not. We need to pray more often & eventually, we’ll be worrying a lot less.

Try this

• Put together a prayer for that particular worry, write it down & whenever it come to mind, say your prayer – out loud if you can – every single time that worry comes to mind, replace it with your prayer, even if you’re repeating the same prayer numerous times a day, so what, you’ll find yourself with the need to do it less.

We have not been given a spirit of fear, anxiety & worry but one of strength, courage & love – with the help of the holy spirit, we have the strength to overcome anything, the courage to call on that strength in the most desperate of times & the ability to do it all in love.

Entertain healthy thoughts

We can’t control what pops in our heads but we can control how long they linger & how we react to them, sometimes, the worrying thoughts can feel paralysing but I assure you, they don’t have to be, we can take hold of those worrying thoughts & kick them out of our minds, don’t ever ignore them or they’ll just keep knocking (the devil is persistent & he’s not bothered how long it takes him to break us, you could be a devoted Christian all your life but the devil will still pursue you on your death bed, we must always be on our guard, whatever we are going through!) but acknowledge them for what they are, they are there to distract us, to tempt us, they are attempts to break us & push us down a path of self destruction. We can replace those thoughts with positive ones, like if you’re at a party & you break a heel on your shoe, so what, take off the other shoe & dance barefoot. If you lose your purse/wallet, cancel your cards & pray that whoever finds it uses whatever money is in it for someones benefit. To worry about an event that hasn’t happened & that probably never will which we have no control over is the worst worry of all, it can rob us of so much, from our ability to function, to our sanity if we let it, we must learn to recognise them for what they are & remember that we have the ability to take back our minds, remember, only we can control how long the thought lingers, even if the thought comes with emotion & physical pain because sometimes they do, we are still able to give them the boot & replace them with happy thoughts. The devil uses distraction all the time, we can do exactly the same thing to replace what he puts in our heads!

Live gratefully

If we exercise gratitude on a daily basis, we will worry less because it’s hard to worry about something when I’m feeling gratitude. It’s stands to reason that if we worry less about things that we don’t have or about things we can’t control & take the time to be grateful for what we have & what we can control, we’ll be happier & calmer people.

Why don’t you tonight, just before you go bed, jot down 2 or 3 things you’re grateful for today? Whatever type of day you’ve had, wherever you are, if you think about it, you’re going to find at least 1 thing to be grateful for today. If you seriously can’t think of anything, let me help you……….you’re in an environment that allows you access to the internet – or you wouldn’t be able to read this blogpost, which means you’ve been able to find 2 minutes out of your day just for you (well done), maybe you’re reading this with a cup of your favourite hot beverage (oh, how I’m grateful for the ability to make a decaf latte with dairy free milk at home), once you start thinking about it, the list could be endless! Why not start a gratitude journal & make it part of your bedtime routine (I don’t do this but I’ve just convinced myself what a fabulous idea this is, especially right now, I’m going to do this starting tonight). It doesn’t have to be a fancy book, you can write them on post its, paper scraps, the notes app on your phone, whatever you use, try to keep them all in one place.

If you live with others, why not get them involved too, ask them to write down 1, 2 or 3 things their grateful for from today, even children can get involved. Everyone in the house could have their very own gratitude journal. Even if the people you live with don’t believe in God, over time, you’ll find opportunities to link the things people are grateful for with the brilliance of God.

Myself, I’m grateful that I have a roof over my head, that I have a warm bed to sleep in at night, that I’m safe, loved, needed. I’m grateful that I have access to food. I’m grateful for Richard my fiancé but most of all, I’m grateful to my Heavenly Father, without whom, I would have nothing!

Always remember to thank God for how amazing he his & for everything he has given you to be grateful for & if you’re sitting there reading this, thinking but I don’t believe in God, one day you will, I mean, I mentioned God ages ago & you’re still reading this, sooooo………………something’s kept you here, intrigued you & it sure isn’t me!

We’ve been worrying for so long about all kinds of things, it’s become a habit & we all know how hard it is to break a habit & to build new ones, it’ll take time but the key is not to beat yourself up if you manage to rid yourself of a worry only for another to come along an hour later, just start again with each new worry, pray, pray & pray some more. Now then, I’ll warn you now, you’ll find yourself worrying about things you don’t usually worry about or about silly little things, you may find yourself thinking ‘why am I worrying about this stuff?’ Well, it’s because you’re starting to take control of your thoughts & fighting back against the worries, the devil don’t like a fighter, he wants us to be submissive!

Try this

• If you find that you’re worrying about something that’s caused by something you read or listen to, either limit or completely eliminate the source from your life.

Remember, I beg of you, please don’t take my word for it, you have the same holy spirit inside you as the rest of us do, whether you choose to believe me or not, why not try praying for the holy spirit, for Jesus to come help you the next time you find yourself worrying, please don’t get minced up with the wording, I’ve done that so many times before & it’s stopped me praying before now, God will accept your prayers however much you fumble your words, however many ums & rs there are, He’s not sitting in heaven with a clip board crossing off all the times we um & r (thank goodness), He knows your heart, all I ask is that you be respectful.

I was going to share the above verse with you & that’s it but the holy spirit wants me to share with you the entirety of what the full armor of God means, so this is for you, from the holy spirit……..

I’ll be honest, I was nervous to share the above because it spares no punches. If a person was in the midst of a feud, an argument or suffering a deep hurt, they could misinterpret this to mean that God gives them permission to take revenge or to mistreat someone out of anger or pain, God does not mean that at all, God works from a place of love, ALWAYS, I believe He is telling us that when the occasion calls for it, we need to be able to stand in truth, be strong in faith & do everything in love (as we always should).

I hope you have a fabulous remainder of the week & remember, be kind, thankful & do everything with love in your heart.

Bye for now.

♥

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~ May God bless you & those you love ~