Praying Away Stress

Did you ever have one of those days where little annoyances piled up on you? Somebody cut you off in traffic. The barista at Starbucks was rude. A co-worker snapped at you for no reason. Your boss blamed you for something that you didn’t do. Your computer contracted a virus. One thing builds on another and by the end of the day you are overstressed and often take out your frustration on the people closest to you.

Many times we respond to these situations with anger. It might be an outward manifestation or we just keep it inside and let it boil. But there is a way to overcome those feelings before they take hold of you. Make a choice to respond with prayer instead of anger. When you get cut off in traffic, don’t curse or flash a gesture at the other driver. Instead, say a quick, “Lord I pray for that driver to make it home safely.” Pray that whatever trouble is happening in your co-worker’s life that she is able to resolve it so she gets her pleasant personality back. Pray that whoever wrote the virus your computer got would use his considerable talents for something productive instead of something destructive.

What happens when you do this? The first thing is that your initial response of anger has been turned into one of hope. It’s difficult to have two emotions at the same time. This way, hope has replaced anger. When that happens, you have let that annoyance go and it doesn’t have a chance to build up. Second, when you respond in anger, you usually don’t get any resolution. When you stew about your boss, you aren’t doing anything to change his behavior. Your anger then leads to frustration, which leads to more anxiety. Prayer, on the other hand, is an action. When you pray, you are doing something to change the situation. And ever better – prayer works!

This might seem really hard to do, but you can make it easier. You might try to make a game out of it and see how many people you can pray for – the person that takes two spaces in the parking lot, the person who blocks the aisle at the grocery store, the person who tells dirty jokes, the salesman who calls at dinnertime. If you do this for a while it will become easier and at some point it will become second nature. Anger is a response to a stimulus. Choose to make prayer your response instead.

If you try this, you will greatly reduce the stress in your life and you will also be advancing the kingdom of God. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21 NIV)