In this, our last post in managing the impact of stress, we will focus on three practical steps to finding and maintaining confidence in God through prayer, acknowledging our feelings, and raising the standard.
During a time of distress and personal loss I have found comfort in Psalm 77, which, at first glance, seems like a very sad psalm filled with despair, but in it I have found the steps the author used to finding my confidence in God. The Psalm starts with the author crying out to God in a time so stressful that he could not sleep. From verse five you will find the author voicing his feelings, which he stated with questions like: “Has the Lord rejected me forever?,” and “Is His unfailing love gone forever?”. Finally, from verse 11 he answers these feelings by looking at the truth, he raised the standard, which is God’s love, God’s might, God’s holiness. In this Psalm we can see that the author found confidence in God through prayer, acknowledging his feelings, and raising the standard.
Prayer.
In the Bible we find many examples of people crying out to God in times of distress, one of the most poignant moments being Jesus seeking God in the garden of Gethsemane. Through prayer we point our hearts to God, and we open ourselves to his love. In prayer we can make known our feelings, and our thoughts. Prayer can take on various forms, it can be the traditional picture of a person kneeling by their bed, it can be journaling, singing, or talking aloud to God. How can you incorporate prayer into your daily life, in both the good times and the times of struggle? What does prayer look like to you?
Acknowledge your feelings.
When we give word to our feelings, we transform them from something abstract we experience to something we can name, hear, and see. By acknowledging our feelings to God, we allow him into our experiences, and we start to process.
By acknowledging our feelings to God, we allow him into our experiences, and we start to process.
Raising the standard.
From personal experience, I have found that feelings, while very real and valid, are also convincing liars. In times of stress I have felt like I was alone, I have felt like God has left my side. My feelings were real, but what they communicated was not the truth. I started to apply this in times of stress and overwhelm. When I felt alone, I could remind myself of scripture that states otherwise or moments when God was with me. Raising the standard of truth allowed me to process my feelings and turn my perspective to the character of God. That He is the good father, that He is mighty and able, that all things are possible through Him, and suddenly my prayers turn into praises of thankfulness to the steadfast God who has delivered me and will again.
Take time to answer the following questions:
When have I experience the presence of God?
How has God provided for me in the past?
When have I seen God moving with great might in my life?
What can I be thankful for today?
How can I see God’s love for me?
My feelings were real, but what they communicated was not the truth.
Psalm 55:19 states that God will hear and answer those who call out to him, that He has been enthroned from old, with God there is no change. Through these steps of prayer, acknowledging our feelings and raising the standard, we can draw near to God, openly share our hearts with him and turn our focus onto Him instead of the circumstances that cause us to stress. We start in a place of distress and end in a place of praise and worship toward an unchanging God whose love remains the same throughout the ages.
Coach U
How can you incorporate these three steps into your life when stress threatens to overwhelm you?
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