Prayer Over Panic
For the last 2 years I’ve been diving into Scripture and soaking up God’s amazing Word and His truth! I LOVE the Bible, it’s been my favorite read thus far, and I read a lot! I skip around a lot in the Bible, but I read the full book or story which ever I feel God calling me to read. Sometimes I find my readings through my Church service, a conversation, a prayer, a question. I just finished Proverbs (my favorite) and Revelation and I was looking for a new story to read. My dad had 2 other favorites other than Proverbs and they were The Book of Ester and The Book of Daniel. Now I’m very familiar with both stories but I’ve never read Daniel all the way through in the Bible. There was a great reminder of the power of prayer as I started my read in Daniel.
A brief back story on Daniel-
“Daniel was a Jewish young man, probably of royal descent. As a late teen he was among those deported from Jerusalem by the conquering Babylonians in about 605 BC. After three years of formal education in the language and literature of Babylon, he became an official in the royal household.
Daniel was intelligent, reliable, and had the gift of interpreting significant dreams. But more than anything else it was Daniel’s character that distinguished him from many outstanding government officials in the empire. He had determined early on to always do what was right, and, no matter what the awful price, he kept that commitment throughout his long and productive life.” Found on inspirationalchristians.org
When Daniel heard that King Nebuchadnezzar was going to kill all the wise men of Babylon because no one could interpret his dream (this included Daniel and his three friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) he went to the King himself and asked for some time, so that he may interpret the Kings dream for him. The King agreed and Daniel went back to his friends to ask and urge them to plead for mercy from God by prayer concerning the mystery of the Kings dream so that they may all be saved (including the other wise men). Through prayer and petition, God revealed the Kings dream to David and David was able to save all the wise men. He also became an adviser of the King and was able to bring his three friends onboard who became the Kings servants and advisers.
OKAY…where am I going with this!
Prayer Over Panic!
Let’s discuss.
The moment Daniel found out about his and all the wise mens executions he DID NOT PANIC! He went right to the source, GOD. Not only did he go alone to God, he invited his friends to PRAY FOR HIM! Prayer is so powerful! In my study notes of my bible it mentions that “ Prayer is more effective than panic. Panic confirms your hopelessness; prayer confirms your hope in God.” THAT IS A MIKE DROP! This is such great reminder to trust in God and His plans. PANIC is another version of FEAR, and the Bible tells us in Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” If we have Christ within, meaning the Holy Spirit is activated within us then we can rest in knowing we’ve already won Victory in any and every situation. In 2 Timothy 1:7 it says, “ For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Fear is a spirit, panic is a reaction to fear! Do not be afraid, God is with you at all times! Even when there are times things do not work out in your favor, trust that God has a plan to restore you and make good of the bad that has happened. Prayer is effective when you believe and trust that God is a good God and that he wants the best for you. Panic will allow Satan to use whatever tactics he has to pull you down and create the sense of fear, thus questioning God’s goodness for your life. DO NOT ALLOW FEAR, this will put a target on your back for Satan and he knows how to hit his targets right where it hurts. Reject fear in the name of Jesus! Praying on your own is absolutely a necessity in drawing closer to God, but bringing others on board to pray with you and for you can do even bigger things! In Matthew 18:18-20 Jesus said, “When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.” How comforting is that? God is so faithful to us even though we don’t deserve it, we need to be faithful to Him and trust Him and His will for our lives.
Faith over Fear, Prayer over Panic!
Be empowered in knowing that you can choose prayer over panic and faith over fear! Ask God for help in every area of your life. Ask Him to help you be a mighty prayer warrior, to be able to reject fear and walk by faith, to be able to claim the name of Jesus and believe and know that He is with you, and ultimately be able to fully turn to Him before turning to yourself.
Let’s put our faith into action so we can truly see God work, in the good and the bad times, being reminded daily that He will make all things workout for His good!
Choose to Pray instead of Panic.
Choose to have Faith instead of Fear.
Work that muscle, because God loves you and he wants the best for you!
