3 Christ-centred ideas to help you become a less anxious mamma.
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I have never suffered with anxiety in a big way. I have had times when I feel very worried for a few days but that is about the extent of my personal experience with this. I have, however, seen many friends try to fight the battle with anxiety and I have seen them grow weaker and weaker, so I have been wrestling with what I can do to help. After praying about this a lot, God showed me a verse that we are going to look at and through this verse come our 3 Christ-centred ideas that will hopefully help you become less anxious.
So, the bible verse for today is:
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Philippians 4 v 6.
1. Pray about everything
So firstly we are asked to pray about everything. As a home schooling mamma of 4, I sometimes find it very hard to keep praying throughout the day when little children are so constantly demanding things! They have a way of completely taking over my brain so that my connection to God feels weaker and weaker as we come towards the end of the day!
One idea I have been trying recently is to literally set alarms for every 30 minutes (or this could be every hour or two if needed, but as frequently as possible works best) and when the alarm goes off, I write in my journal/pray/breathe! Its just a way to remind myself to refocus of God and ask Him what he wants me and the kids to do next. For you, this could be a time when you write down all your worries (sometimes very quickly and with only one hand because the baby is reaching for your hot coffee). As you write them down, tell God they are his now. You cant handle them alone and so you are giving them to him.
By breaking the day up into 30 minute chunks, we will cover a lot more of the “everything” that this verse tells us to pray about. Give it a try and see how you get on.
2. Tell God what you need
In my Britishness, I am thinking “Don’t you mean, ask him nicely for what you think you might need and be ready for a yes or a no?”! But this command has a boldness to it. You don’t need to be shy or hold back here. Tell God what you need. He already knows what is best for you but He loves it when you come to him so that is what he is encouraging here.
So, maybe this is one to do at the beginning and the end of each day? Or maybe you could get this on paper every 30 minuets but the idea is to tell God what you need. He is a loving father. He so desperately wants to be let in to help us. So just start telling him. Trust him with the deepest things you need.
3. Thank Him for all He has done
This one is key and is something I am really big on with my family. Thankfulness takes our eyes off of problems and on to blessings. It rewires our brains to focus on happier things which makes us feel happier. God has done so much for us, we have to learn to stop and praise Him for that.
Some ways to do this might be to go round the table every breakfast time and share something you are thankful to God for, or maybe keep a thankfulness journal that you aim to write in every day and look back over once a week? Any way you decide to do this, make it a habit that you train in yourself, I truly think it will make a difference.
In conclusion
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Philippians 4 v 6.
If you need further help, please be in touch with myself or somebody else that you trust. Don’t keep this to yourself if it is too much to bare.
As always, I am praying for you. “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it, and may you be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” (Ephesians 3:16, NLT)