Prayer: the Cure for Worry
Do you ever feel distant from God—like your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling? In this episode of Heartfelt Conversations with Diana, we delve into the power of prayer, not as a last-ditch act of desperation, but as a lifeline of intimacy with God. Diana shares how prayer isn’t about pushing the right buttons on a “vending-machine God,” but about drawing near to a Father who loves us deeply and watches over us with great care.
Through personal stories, encouragement, and scripture, Diana reminds us that we are always just one prayer away from hope, peace, and strength. If you’ve ever struggled with worry, shame, or feeling unworthy to pray, this conversation will help you take that one small step of faith—because prayer can truly be the cure for anxiety.
Diana’s Notes
Prayer: The Cure for Worry!
Prayer: The Cure for Worry!
Hello everybody!!! And welcome to today’s episode, Prayer: The Cure for Worry! Here on Heartfelt Conversations with Diana! As we continue to lean in on the topic of prayer.
The past couple of weeks, we have talked about God not being a Genie in a bottle kind of God, A pop machine God who just gives us whatever we want because we know what buttons to push. Then we talked about how fear of our own imperfections can keep us from going to God in prayer, mistakenly thinking it is our goodness that gives us access to God’s throne. But it is not because of us, but Jesus, that we can come boldly to the Throne of Grace. Fear is a Liar! Fear keeps us from God’s best for our lives.
Prayer is more than some random act of desperation; prayer connects us to God, and as believers, Christians, we are able to connect and communicate in a very personal, intimate way. No matter how we may be feeling about ourselves.
Prayer is part of our relationship with God. Prayer gives us a way to enjoy our fellowship with God. Our prayer life is important because, as with any relationship without communication, it is hard to have a relationship, especially a trusted, intimate relationship.
How many times have you been frustrated in a relationship because you just felt like the person you were trying to communicate with was not listening, responding back, or misunderstood what you were trying to say, or didn’t really care to hear what you had to say?
Relationships on their own can be complicated because we are all so different, and when there are barriers and bottlenecks in the communication process, it can make the relationship even harder. You say one thing, and I hear another. Oh boy! Houston, we have a problem! LOL
If you struggle in this area, in being able to go to God, your Father in prayer, I recommend that you spend some real quality time in becoming more familiar with prayer, specifically, on what God tells us about prayer in His word. On our notes for this week’s podcast, we will list some verses you can look up regarding what God tells us on the subject of prayer.
I used to feel so distant from God and would become overwhelmed with feelings of rejection and depression until I really began developing this part of my relationship with God. I stopped using Him as a vending machine of desperate prayers. Wanting Him to change my circumstances, change the person who was driving me nuts, change my job, change anything and everything except for what really needed to change, me.
In the end, it really added no true value to my life. But when I began to go to God and just thank Him for His faithfulness to me, His goodness, and His protection, even when I did not deserve it. When I went to Him, believing He was my Good, Good Father, it began to break away all the walls of protection I had built up over the years.
I had a lot of walls, layer after layer, after layer. As He began to tear down those walls, brick by brick, I began to see with my spiritual eyes that He really did love me. His position towards me had never moved. It was I who moved further and further away from Him.
Mostly out of shame. The more mistakes I made, the more shame and guilt I felt, and the further away from Him I became. I took little baby steps backwards without even realizing it, and before you knew it, I was lost in the dark. Afraid & alone. Or so I thought.
You are one prayer away from God revealing to you that He is right there beside you. He has never moved. He is just patiently waiting on you to realize that, by one little step of faith.
Isaiah 41:10: (NLT) Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
Sometimes we have to step out to find out.
And that is what I did. I had to take a little step of faith to trust He would be there for me, even when I wasn’t sure He would be there. But in faith, I did, and He was. He was right there waiting.
Prayer gives us hope, encouragement, and strength when we don’t have enough strength on our own. Prayer allows us to take all the burdens, all the fears and hurts and wounds that keep us from love, joy, peace, rest, and in prayer we can cast all of our worries onto Him, because He cares for us.
1 Peter 5:7: (AMP) casting all your cares (all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns once and for all) on Him, for He cares about you (with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully).
God is deeply affectionate towards you and watches over you very carefully. That brings me a lot of comfort and peace. And it should bring comfort to you as well. That alone is a really good reason to go to God in prayer.
Going to our heavenly Father in prayer and sharing with Him our burdens, the things that have us bogged down in worry, is the first place we should go when feeling overwhelmed. He loves it when we trust Him enough to share what is bothering us. He already knows, so we might as well cast our cares on Him. In prayer, we can share what’s going on, communicating with our Father, and then seek His advice, His help. We can say, “even though nothing has changed yet, God, I know you care about me and You are working things out for me. Thank you for letting me come to you and rest knowing you’ve got my back.”
We cast it and leave it with Him. That’s the hard part, leaving it. LOL
Prayer can be the cure we need for all of our worries, struggles, and anxieties.
Listen to the words of Jesus describing the depth and detail of just how much our heavenly Father cares about our basic, everyday needs.
Matthew 6:25-34: (NLT) “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?
Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?
Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
“And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing,
Yet Solomon, in all his glory, was not dressed as beautifully as they are.
(For those who are not familiar with King Solomon, he was often regarded as the wealthiest king in history.) -
picking up in verse 30-
And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’
These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.
(rather than focusing on our fears and frustrations and allowing worry to rob us of enjoying our life, verse 33 tells us what to do instead) -
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries.
Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Who can say AMEN to that?! Each day has enough trouble! For sure!
As the saying goes,” don’t borrow trouble”.
God loves you! He cares even more about you than the birds in the air, and if He will feed them and clothe them, He will also provide for you.
Maybe you have a job you are not in love with, but can you go to God in prayer and, with a thankful heart, tell Him something like this, “Thank you for a job that puts food on my table and clothes on my back. This is not my dream job, God, but you already know that. I am just thanking you for being good to me and supplying me with an income while I am waiting on You to open the right doors at the time You know is right for me. In the meantime, help me to seek after You and Your Kingdom with a good attitude, with Your character that is being developed within me every single day. Because I know, as I seek You, You will give me the grace for the day. One day at a time. Thank You Father for Your Faithfulness in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
Pastor Beth has a saying that has helped me a lot:” Grace for the pace.” When you are feeling overwhelmed or needing something to help you hang onto hope, or just make it through the day, say, “thank you, Lord, that You have given me grace for the pace.
God does not want you living a barely getting by, miserable, oppressive life. God wants to give you the desires of your heart. The real desires of your heart, because He is the one who planted our true desires within us to begin with.
Psalm 37:4: (NLT) Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Proverbs 16:2-3: (NIV) All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord.
Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.
Psalm 34:4: (AMP) I sought the LORD [on the authority of His word], and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
When we seek God in prayer and we go to Him on the authority of His Own word, He will answer us.
The problem I ran into a lot was that I wasn’t going to God on the Authority of His word but on my thoughts and my words, and the desires of my fleshly heart. And without God’s guidance, our desires are not always in our own best interest. We think we know it all sometimes, most of the time, for some of us. Ha ha
We can’t stand it when someone shares lessons that they have learned based on their past experiences. Even though they may be trying to help us stay clear of a bad path by offering us solid advice, we all want to find our own way. It is a fact! We can be our own worst counsel sometimes. Or as the singer Pink sings, “I’m my own worst enemy.”
Jesus Himself warns us in Mark that when left to its own devices, what is in the heart of man.
Mark 7:21-23: (NLT) For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.
All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”
We are all kinda selfish, prideful, and seek after things that are not necessarily good for us. It is part of what the bible calls our flesh. The mortal part of us as human beings. We can’t correct this behavior on our own. I can tell you I have beaten my head against the wall trying to be good enough on my own, until I finally came to the realization that I don’t have to.
It does not have to be so hard. Life is too hard! Have you ever had that thought? I know I have… a lot!!!
Jesus took all the pressure of having to be perfect when He took our place and went to the cross.
Jesus came to teach us to go to the Father in prayer and to seek His Kingdom.
Your heavenly Father is not looking to be a killjoy, to be an eternal chaperone watching over us and doing a spotlight check to make sure we aren’t misbehaving. God does not want to take anything away from your life.
His desire is to give you the true desires of your heart. Those desires He already created within you - and when we seek Him first, when we spend time in His word and in prayer talking to Him and learning to be quiet and still while He speaks to our hearts, revealing His good plan for us, in time, we begin to see a better path, a better plan that we do not have to re-create or figure out. He knows exactly what will bring us Satisfaction, Joy, and Contentment. Peace.
In Mark 9:23, Jesus tells us,” Everything is possible for one who believes.”
God’s desire for you is to bless you! He wants to bless your life, and He wants to bless you in such a way, not barely enough, but more than enough, so that you can then be a blessing to others as well.
In order to get there, we have to learn to operate within the Authority of His Word, which is our structure for a solid foundation.
God wants you to be blessed, but He knows the perfect timing for that. In the meantime, He wants you to grow stronger in your spiritual maturity so that when you are blessed, it doesn’t crush you or cause you to stumble because we were not built up enough in our faith to handle it.
Poverty is not God’s will for you. Sickness and disease are not God’s will for you. Living a life that you dread is not God’s will for you. On our website Heartfetconversations.com, you will find one of God’s promises for us in the book of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 29:11: (AMP) For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the LORD, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
God knows the plans He has established for you. They are right there just waiting for you. Will you trust Him enough to seek Him first so that through the Help of the Holy Spirit, He can guide you towards that path?
Will you worship Him and praise Him in prayer? Will you draw closer to Him and seek Him in prayer?
Will you let Jesus teach you by following Him? Listen to His words from Matthew 28 - 30: (NLT) - Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
When I was feeling crushed and life was just too hard and harsh to bear, I read this verse and decided I was taking Jesus up on His offer. I needed gentleness, I needed rest for my soul. And through my healing journey, He has been so gentle, loving, and kind towards me. He has never shamed me or embarrassed me or humiliated me.
When we go to God everyday in prayer, inviting Him in to all the details of our lives, the good, the bad, the ugly, withholding nothing from Him, seeking Him right where we are, inviting Him into all of the mess and failures and frustrations, then through His Spirit at work within us, we grow and mature, and we learn to have self-discipline and self-control over our flesh.
When we seek Him with our whole hearts, we will begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Our hopes and dreams won’t seem like a distant memory or too hard to reach for. Maybe you will find, like I did, that the things I was chasing after, the things I thought I had to have to be happy, were just empty fantasies that left me drained, worn out, tired, and distracted from what my heart truly desired.
I am not sure where you are in your journey with Jesus, but I hope that as you grow in your faith, your prayer life will increase so you may be strengthened within your inner man.
You will see the greatest change in your life when you willingly submit to God and His plan for your life. Nothing scares Satan more than when we live by grace and draw closer to God, little by little, day by day.
Next week, let’s take a look at the generous life God desires for all of us.
Until then, I have put another link to one of Pastor Beth’s videos on The Sky Is The Limit! On our notes for today’s conversation.
I have also put a link to a recent message from our senior Pastor, Eric Jones, on the notes as well. He is walking us through the first four books of the Gospels. I hope you will enjoy: The Scarlet Thread: The Gospel of Matthew.
The Scarlet Thread: The Gospel of Matthew | Pastor Eric Jones
Today, let’s close our time together with this encouraging word from the book of Romans as we learn to fix our eyes on Jesus and walk by faith, being led by His Spirit, the Holy Spirit:
Romans 8:1-9: (Passion)
So now the case is closed. There remains no accusing voice of condemnation against those who are joined in life-union with Jesus, the Anointed One, for the “law” of the Spirit of life flowing through the anointing of Jesus has liberated us from the “law” of sin and death.
For God achieved what the law was unable to accomplish, because the law was limited by the weakness of human nature.
Yet God sent us his Son in human form to identify with human weakness. Clothed with humanity, God’s Son gave his body to be the sin-offering so that God could once and for all condemn the guilt and power of sin.
So now every righteous requirement of the law can be fulfilled through the Anointed One living his life in us. And we are free to live, not according to our flesh, but by the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit!
Those who are motivated by the flesh only pursue what benefits themselves. But those who live by the impulses of the Holy Spirit are motivated to pursue spiritual realities. For the sense and reason of the flesh is death, but the mindset controlled by the Spirit finds life and peace.
In fact, the mindset focused on the flesh fights God’s plan and refuses to submit to his direction, because it cannot! For no matter how hard they try, God finds no pleasure in those who are controlled by the flesh.
But when the Spirit of Christ empowers your life, you are not dominated by the flesh but by the Spirit.
Let all of us learn to live by the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit!!
I hope you will take a moment and go to our website, heartfeltconversations.com, and listen to the teachings and message to encourage and inspire you. I believe they will bless you and strengthen you!
You are lavishly loved and adored! See ya next time on Heartfelt Conversations with Diana!
Verses to look up on the subject of prayer:
Philippians 4:6
Colossians 4:2
Psalms 145:18
1 Thessalonians 5:17
Ephesians 6:18
Thirst Quenchers
Songs to inspire you:
We The Kingdom - Jesus Does (Official Music Video)
Phil Wickham - What An Awesome God (Sunset Walk)
LION (feat. Chris Brown & Brandon Lake) | Elevation Worship
Encouraging Verses:
Isaiah 42:16: God’s Word Translation
I will lead the blind on unfamiliar roads. I will lead them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light in front of them. I will make rough places smooth. These are the things I will do for them, and I will never abandon them.
Isaiah 54:10: Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”
Psalm 119:105: Your word is a light unto our path and a light unto our feet.
Isaiah 54:17: But in that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the LORD; their vindication will come from me. I, the LORD, have spoken!
Isaiah 52:12: (EASY) But you will not have to hurry and run away.No, the Lord, Israel's God, will keep you safe.He will lead you at the front,and He will be your guard at the back.
Matthew 7:11: So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
1 Peter 2:23 tells us - When He was insulted, He did not answer back with an insult; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but placed His hopes in God, the righteous Judge.
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
1 Peter 2:12 says, “Live such good lives among the pagans that… they may see your good deeds and glorify God.”
The New Living Translation reads it this way: Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.
Deuteronomy 30:19-20: "I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Now choose life."
Luke 6:37 “Forgive, and you will be forgiven”.
Matthew 6:14: If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.
Romans 8:31 in the AMP Bible tells us: What then shall we say to all these things? If God is for us, who can be [successful] against us?
Psalm 65:11: You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.
Psalm 32:8: The LORD says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.
Proverbs 15:3: The Lord sees everything, whether good or bad.
1 Peter 5:7: Cast all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.
Additional Resources:
Steven Furtick: Triggered Taking Back Your Mind in the Age of Anxiety
Beth Jones: Getting a Grip on the Basics is a great resource to help you get the basics of how vital you are to God and how good He desires to be to you
https://www.thebasicsuniversity.com
Joyce Meyer: The Mind is a Battlefield - https://joycemeyer.org
Prayer of Salvation
Jesus has given salvation, healing, and countless benefits to all who call upon His name. These benefits can be yours if you receive Him into your heart by saying this prayer:
Heavenly Father, I come to You admitting that I am a sinner. Right now, I choose to turn away from sin, and I ask You to cleanse me of all unrighteousness. I believe that Jesus rose again from the dead so that I may be justified and made righteous through faith in Him. I call upon the name of Jesus Christ to be the Savior and Lord of my life. Jesus, I choose to follow You, and I ask that You fill me with the power of the Holy Spirit. I declare right now that I am a born again, child of God. I am free from sin and full of the righteousness of God. I am saved in Jesus’ name. Amen.
This prayer and the comment above, were taken out of the book:
Secrets to Powerful Prayer - Discovering the Languages of the Heart
By Lynne Hammond and Patsy Cameneti
If you have just received Jesus as your Savior, please write Lynne Hammond Ministries at:
PO Box 29469
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55429-2946
Or, email one of the ministries listed on the Additional Resources Tab and let them know that you are a brand-new Christian and need some direction on the next steps for your new life in Christ.
Or email us here at Heartfelt Conversations with Diana, and we will forward your information to you.
Congratulations if you are a brand new Christian or if you have Returned Home! Welcome!!! Get in God’s Word and get it into you.