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Episode 25 - Turn Panic Into Prayer
40 Plays3 months ago
In this episode of Pray and See, host Bryan Brookes explores how to turn panic into prayer using the powerful truths of 1 Peter 5. In a world filled with anxiety—from politics to health concerns to everyday stress—Bryan reminds listeners that prayer is not a religious chore but an invitation to cast our worries onto a God who truly cares. Through Scripture, real stories from Youth for Christ, and practical steps, this episode shows how God trades our anxiety for His peace and moves us from isolation and fear into trust and friendship with Him.
Email pray@coyfc.org with topic ideas, or to link up with a prayer team!
Pray & See is a ministry of Central Ohio Youth for Christ. Podcast Link - https://open.spotify.com/show/3yZLOjUt6Hu0XxuwLavLZv
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Transcript
Introduction to Pray and See Podcast
00:00:04
Speaker
Welcome to the Pray and See podcast. I'm Brian Brooks, your host. I'm glad to connect with you to share how God moves through prayer in our Youth for Christ ministries and some things I've seen in my own life.
Anxiety, Stress, and Comfort in 1 Peter 5
00:00:18
Speaker
whether it's social media, whether it's politics, whether it's your family, maybe be a health crisis you're in, people are talking now that they're the most anxious and stressed out they've ever been.
00:00:30
Speaker
If that's you, 1 Peter 5 is a lifeline. Over the past two episodes, we've talked about how we can let God's truth fuel our brain and settle our heart to pray. When you do this, you move from connecting to God out of duty to friendship. Well, today we're going to look closer at settling your heart to pray, and we're going to learn how to turn panic into prayer. Let's pray and see what God does and who he is. Pray along with me. God, thank you that you don't just tolerate me on my bad days.
00:01:05
Speaker
days when I feel afraid or anxious, that you care for me. God, would you meet each person who's listening to this, where they are at today, in the middle of what they're anxious about, of what they're going through? Would you trade their anxiety for your peace?
00:01:20
Speaker
Would you help them to turn panic into prayer? Thank you for the great length you've gone and sending your son, Jesus, so that we could know you and experience your peace. Amen.
The Power of Prayer: Annie's Story
00:01:31
Speaker
Before we look again at 1 Peter 5 to learn how to settle our hearts to pray, to learn how to turn our panic into prayer, I want to remind us of who it is that we're praying to. We're praying to a God who is alive, who is active, who's changing people's lives, answering prayers of His people. Listen to this story from Annie as she shares some specific ways how God answered her and her team's prayers.
00:01:56
Speaker
So I am the site leader for our West Side and every day before our after school team um works with kids, we have like a prayer meeting. And it's been really cool because a couple weeks ago left and right we saw God provide.
00:02:11
Speaker
um We always pray for things specific to that day um and that week the Lord just kept answering our prayers. First, we prayed that five students we haven't seen in a week on Monday would actually come for our high school Bible study that night.
00:02:28
Speaker
Three of them did. Then the next day, we had our middle school Bible study. We prayed that 12 students would come, and we prayed that this one um newer student and older student that had gotten some conflict would make up.
00:02:42
Speaker
We had exactly 12 students at our Bible study that night. And those two girls that we were worried about conflict and prayed that they would resolve it, resolved it that day. So then after that, we were so excited. We're like, okay, let's what can we pray for next? um We prayed for a salvation. And one of our new students, Drew, actually received Christ with our new student, Matt, that same day.
00:03:06
Speaker
Then the next day we prayed that two girls would actually stay for our middle school small group that we haven't seen stay before, and they did.
The Importance of Humbling and Casting Anxieties
00:03:16
Speaker
So it was cool because all these prayers were in our corporate like fifteen twenty minute prayer group right before were open for the day, but we were able to like be super encouraged that like this does work. um And prayer doesn't always work like this, but our prayer team got really excited to get together and like launch every day of, like all right, how is God going to come through? What can we present to him and see happen?
00:03:44
Speaker
Man, that was awesome. We're gonna look at turning panic into prayer. Over the past few episodes, we've referenced George Mueller. And he says, the beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, but the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety. Prayer is not a religious chore, but it's a time to hand over our stresses to the only one capable of carrying them.
00:04:08
Speaker
Whether you're facing career or uncertainty, the noise of your digital life, hard things in your family or friendships. You can either focus on how big the problem is, or you can take your anxiety and pass it off to God, throw it onto Him.
00:04:25
Speaker
Listen to these verses from 1 Peter 5, starting in verse 5. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time He may exalt you.
00:04:38
Speaker
casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Be sober-minded and be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
00:04:50
Speaker
Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brothers and sisters throughout the world. After you suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who's called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
00:05:10
Speaker
To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
00:05:15
Speaker
Earlier in these verses, it says, God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. And Peter invites us to humble ourselves so God would exalt us.
00:05:27
Speaker
And how we do that is we cast anxieties on him because God cares for us.
Breaking Isolation Through Prayer
00:05:33
Speaker
To cast means to throw or to hurl something onto someone something else.
00:05:40
Speaker
Most of us don't cast our anxiety off. Instead, we curate it. We hold on to it. We hold on to our panic. We scroll through it. We feed our panic by obsessing over it. Then we wonder why we're so tired or emotionally exhausted.
00:05:57
Speaker
Peter's saying to us in these verses, look, if it's weighing on you, it's an invitation to talk to God. And the enemy, the lion described in verse eight of chapter five, wants you to stay isolated in your anxiety, to think you're the only one failing at life. You're the only one who's not gonna make it.
00:06:16
Speaker
Prayer gets you out of that isolation and self-focus and problem focus, and it gets you right into God's care. We wanna turn panic into prayer.
00:06:29
Speaker
How do you begin to do that? If you're wanting to take stock of what it is that you're actually anxious about, to double-click on your anxiety and to describe your worries, but you haven't begun first with reading the Bible and getting truth into your mind, then you can't settle your heart and you can't fuel your brain to pray. Instead, you're just rehearsing problems to yourself. This would be the old way.
00:06:55
Speaker
Like you tell God, maybe even in prayer, just how big your anxiety is. That has a way of reinforcing the weight of anxiety.
00:07:06
Speaker
Your mind wanders back to it because you're focusing on what you're afraid of in your fear. What we've looked at in episode 23 and 24, which if you haven't gotten a chance to listen to those, go back and check those out, is what this guy George Mueller did.
00:07:23
Speaker
He would begin with reading Bible verses. So maybe you read these verses in 1 Peter 5 and you see, okay, God will exalt the humble. God cares about me.
00:07:35
Speaker
He's bigger than my anxiety. And you start to think about how big God is. Then you talk to him about that. And all of a sudden, what you're anxious about looks really small in comparison to God and how awesome he is.
00:07:51
Speaker
Listen to these verses from Philippians chapter 4. 6 and 7. Don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done.
00:08:05
Speaker
Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. God wants to make a trade.
00:08:18
Speaker
He wants to trade our anxiety for His peace. our worries for his care. This is how we turn our panic into prayer. We cast anxiety onto God and he gives us his peace.
Analyzing and Handing Over Anxieties
00:08:32
Speaker
So the point today is turn your panic into prayer. Here's the challenge. Check in with yourself. Do an anxiety audit. Sit down with these verses in 1 Peter 5 and ask, first, what is it that I'm carrying? What is the anxiety? Try and identify that panic. Is it a relationship? Is it a stressful situation at work or school or uncertainty about your future?
00:08:58
Speaker
What is it? Two, why am I carrying it? Maybe you're worried about rep your reputation, how others view you. Maybe you're trying to control the future and you realize you can't.
00:09:11
Speaker
Go back to verse 6 in chapter 5. It says, humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God so He can exalt us. And we do that by casting our anxieties on Him. We need to humble ourselves and realize we can't control everything. We can't control what people think. We can't control the future.
00:09:28
Speaker
And finally, who am I giving it to? Who are you giving your anxiety to? You're giving it to the God who who actually cares, the God who sees what's going on with you, knows what you're afraid of, and wants to care for you.
00:09:40
Speaker
Well, maybe you realize, I can't fix this thing that I'm going through. What would that look like for you to admit that to God? You know, what is it that's currently making your chest right now feel tight or your mind race, interrupting your sleep?
00:09:57
Speaker
Be specific. on what it is and give that over to God. Ask him, why am I carrying this? Help me to see that. Well, on this podcast, we want to go one step further and not only connect with God about ourselves, but to be a blessing to other people.
00:10:13
Speaker
Today, you may run into someone else. Maybe it's someone in your family, a child that you have. Maybe it's your spouse or partner or friend or coworker or person at the coffee shop, whatever.
00:10:26
Speaker
Chances are they've got something they are anxious and worried about. Ask them what it is that they're anxious or worried about and listen in to what they're going to share as a chance to connect with people and to learn how to pray for them.
00:10:42
Speaker
Thanks for
Engagement and Connection with the Podcast
00:10:43
Speaker
listening. Share this podcast with friends, with your family, students who you think might benefit from this if you've been blessed by it and encouraged. And if there are things that you'd like to hear about related to prayer, send me an email at pray.org.
00:10:57
Speaker
at C-O-Y-F-C dot org. I'd love to hear from you. Pray and See is a ministry of Central Ohio Youth for Christ. Look us up on social media, subscribe, do all those things. We'll see you next time.