Worry vs. Prayer
What's the difference between worry and prayer? Are they that different? Is it possible to worry during prayer?
Worry and prayer are a matter of language, sure. But I think the difference between the two is the difference in focus.
Imagine you have a plumbing problem. (I always seem to have a plumbing problem.) Your problem exists in the form of a broken pipe. (We had a hard freeze this week in Texas, so frozen pipes are on the brain.) Worry looks like this, "Lord, look at this pipe! It's broken! Get over here!" So, even though you're praying, you're using prayers to worry about the pipe.
But prayer is different. Jesus clearly and unequivocally uses the command, "Do not worry." In my opinion, it's one of the boldest commands in the Bible. Don't worry? Seriously? Like….ever?
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?”
So, prayer looks like this: Looking toward the Lord with all your might. Focusing on Him. Call Him Father. Tell Him that your plans fit into His, not the other way around. Then, tell Him about the leak.
It's a matter of your gaze. As you're thinking through it and talking it out, where are you focused? On the leak or on the Lord?