Anxiety - Proverbs 12:25

Anxiety weighs down the heart,
but a kind word cheers it up (Proverbs 12:25)

Dear Father,

I have witnessed the debilitating effect anxiety can have on the lives of people and their loved ones. I first pray that you spare these children the malady of psychological anxiety syndromes of various types. I know that those disorders are not consciously chosen, rather they develop and become involuntary responses to surroundings. Thankfully, by your science, medication has been developed to help deal with the symptoms of these disorders and I pray that you allow the continued development of more and more effective medications. Should any of the little ones develop that kind of disorder, I pray that you give them the wisdom and courage to seek help and the strength to persevere in their treatment.

But short of an anxiety disorder, some people seem to be generally anxious and worrisome about life. I pray that these children avoid that pattern and, if they begin to fall into that mindset, that you give them the wisdom and strength to break free. Give them a healthy perspective of life - a perspective that realizes that they belong to you and that you are looking out for their best eternal benefit. A perspective that recognizes the brevity of life and that health and welfare is not all that important when viewed from an eternal perspective. That you have promised us our daily bread, but that you have not promised us health, wealth or long life. Gloriously, though, you have promised us long life - eternal life - with you and I pray that these children deeply internalize this reality such that it guides their thoughts and quenches their tendency to fret over things in this life.

I further pray that they become the people who sooth the worries of others by their kind and uplifting words. May they be people of encouragement who are given the gift of knowing just what to say in each circumstance to delivery your comfort to the struggling.

Amen