The enemy loves busyness. Nothing causes his mouth to salivate with the delight of a hunting lion like seeing a Christian so distracted by doing that there’s no time left for being—being at rest, being in an intimate relationship with God, being connected to the direction of the Spirit.
The easiest way for the enemy to distract you from God’s invitations to join Him where He’s at work is to convince you you’re supposed to be doing something else.
It’s not uncommon for my task list to overwhelm me, filling me with uncertainty. In those moments, I lose my ability to prioritize with a Kingdom perspective. Everything seems equally important and equally impossible to remove from my list.
When we talk about being overwhelmed in the church, it’s not uncommon for people to quote Philippians 4:13, “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” But that rarely helps—almost never. You know why?
(Get ready for a truth bomb… one that I don’t much care for, myself.)
It doesn’t help because that verse is about living through trials that arise from following the direction God has given us. And when we’re overwhelmed, it’s usually by things He hasn’t actually asked us to do.
We use that verse as an excuse to keep plodding forward with the list we’ve created so we don’t have to evaluate what God wants us to remove from it—what He wants us to let go of so we can focus on our relationship with Him and the things He’s called us to do.
That’s something I struggle with.
But there are great promises to overcome our busyness.
There’s hope when our task list seem hopeless.
So if you’re feeling overwhelmed, join me in this prayer.
But let’s do more than that. Let’s set aside time this week to meditate on the verses referenced in the prayer and refocus our priorities. Our first instinct will be to say we don’t have time, but let’s encourage one another to seek God’s peace rather than surrendering to the enemy’s distractions.
A PRAYER FOR WHEN I FEEL OVERWHELMED
Father God,
My heart and my life are overwhelmed.
I feel poured out like water,[1]
and there’s nothing left.
Every task feels impossible.
You’ve promised to carry my burdens,[2]
but I can’t see how to set them down.
You say I need not worry about tomorrow,[3]
but the deadlines that loom with the dawn consume me.
You renew the strength of those who wait upon the Lord,[4]
but I feel too hurried to wait, too anxious to be still.
And so, I will worship you in my uncertainty.
I will lift Your name, knowing You will walk through the fire with me.[5]
Show me how to claim Your promises.
Teach me how to be still, knowing that you are God.[6]
Examine my heart toward my daily responsibilities.
Reveal anything that offends You.[7]
Even if I’m doing something considered good,
show me the things You’ve not asked me to do,
and give me the strength to evaluate them.
My busyness has distracted me from hearing Your direction.
I have created my own priorities,
and allowed the world to dictate others.
Show me how to focus on the tasks You’ve given me,
looking first to the Kingdom.
Set my mind on Your priorities over the world’s,[8]
So I might experience Your peace.
Show me how to rest.
Teach me how to let go of the things You haven’t called me to do,
and move forward with joy in the things You have.
I want to be overwhelmed, but not by tasks or trials.
Overwhelm me with Your glory.
Overwhelm me with Your goodness.
Overwhelm me with Your joy.
Overwhelm me with Your sacrifice
Overwhelm me with your grace.
Remind me how Your love has overwhelmed the accusations of this world.
And let that direct my path.
Amen.
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[tweetshare tweet=”How we misuse Philippians 4:13 in times of stress | A Prayer for When You’re Overwhelmed | #Prayer #Priorities | ” username=”joshuajmasters”]
______________________
[1] Psalm 22:14
[2] Matthew 11:28-30
[3] Matthew 6:25-27
[4] Isaiah 40:31
[5] Isaiah 43:2
[6] Psalm 46:10
[7] Psalm 139:23-24
[8] Colossians 3:2
How do you focus on God when you’re feeling overwhelmed? Encourage other readers with your comments below.
Wow! I needed this! What a beautiful prayer I will need to remember. So often, we do get caught up in busyness (I’m the biggest culprit), and I need to remember to focus on what He would have me focus on. Great blog!
“When we’re overwhelmed, it’s usually by things He hasn’t actually asked us to do.”
Pastor, Joshua, you always seem to know and share the message that I need to hear. I suffer from “busyitis.” Sometimes it overwhelms me as it does you. Even though it is most often work that I view as working for God’s kingdom, I know He does not want me to be so busy that I don’t have adequate time for prayer, meditation, and Bible study. Thank you for your encouragement–I’m going to work on this!
That is so well said, Katherine. Thank you for your transparency and your thoughts. We all move forward together.
Awesome prayer and eye-opening post. This: “And when we’re overwhelmed, it’s usually by things He hasn’t actually asked us to do.” Oh, yes! Thank you for the prayer and for the “truth bomb” about how our perspective is all wrong when quoting Philippians 4:13. The truth is, most of the time I’m overwhelmed because I am over doing or focused on doing instead of being as you so beautifully state. The Lord is showing me to model Jesus. He was about His Father’s business instead of the busyness that so often clutters our lives.
The way you personalized these verses and make them a prayer for when you are overwhelmed is beautiful.
It’s also convicting and eye opening!
What a beautiful compliment. Thank you, Aryn. May the Lord encourage you today.
Oh how I needed this today. Feeling overwhelmed by worry and life, but keep on going as I do and cannot do anything without my morning devotionals and prayers.
Thank you my friend
May the Lord bring you peace and direction through your time with Him, Denise. Thank you.
Thank you for posting this! I love how you wove together verses to guide the prayer. I recently got rid of several commitments that were eating a lot of time, but I may need to get rid of more. And if I am to continue in what I have on my plate, then I believe God will give me His strength.
That means so much to me, Joanna. Thank you. I love writing scripture into prayers because it helps assure I’m praying in God’s will rather than my own.
Thank you Joshua. I needed this.
You’re very welcome, Melissa. I needed it too.
Well, this completely speaks to me and what you and I have been talking about lately! Thank you!
You are very welcome, my friend. Praying the Lord encourages you.
Thank you for that powerful prayer, backed with eight scriptures, to help combat the overwhelming feeling I often put on myself. Thanks for much to ponder, Joshua!
You are welcome, Julie. Thank you for your kind and encouraging words. I know the feeling of putting to much on myself and becoming overwhelmed. I appreciate your honest comment.
Thank you for wise words. I, too, struggle with too many “good things” to do. I appreciate the encouragement in your post and prayer.
You’re welcome, Jeannie. I pray that the Lord reveals His direction to you and that we all learn to lean on His plan for our daily lives rather than our own.
I hope we all are going to do something along with prayer for the saving of this earth. God needs some help with this do to the threat that climate changes is making in our lives. Thanks for your prayer, it helps!
Thank you for your comment, Vernon. God doesn’t need our help but He invites us to be part of the work He’s doing. We do have a responsibility to be good stewards of the planet He created. Thank you for your prayers
This one brought me to tears at the end…that’s how I want to be…overwhelmed by HIM, not the world. What a contrast. I love this post Josh, thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
I’m so grateful for your encouragement, Sandy. That’s my desire too. May we both be encouraged and overwhelmed by His love and purpose.
This is definitely on time. I am so learning that busyness for me was other people’s busyness. In taking time to let go of somethings and forming boundaries, Philippians 4:13
sheds a new light on me. I was always told you have a one track mind and can’t multi-task. It use to bother me. It doesn’t now. So when I hear that, I just say, “I’m focused” and I’m focused on God.
Thank you, Priscilla. When we remain focused on God, the things He’s called us to do have so much more clarity. That helps us remove the clutter and noise.
Have certainly been feeling that the past few weeks my friend. While I’ll continue to cling to my primary life verse (Phil 4:13), you make a very valid point about Him giving you strength to carryout His will for you (not your own). That’s one of the ways I know it’s not in line with God’s will… I can’t seem to make progress. When that happens, I must consider abandoning to complete the last thing I was certain was in God’s will. Love the prayer and will keep it close. God’s blessings my friend.
That is an excellent perspective, J.D. Thank you. I think Philippians 4:13 is a wonderful life verse. It clearly carried Paul through what most people would consider very dark times, but he encountered them with joy. It is a marvelous verse of assurance and hope. We need only remained focused on His will over our own. I’m so grateful for your thoughts.
Love this prayer, Joshua. Thanks for the reminder. We do get too busy and this allows the enemy to create havoc in our lives.
Yes. I’ve allowed the enemy to create havoc too many times. Thanks so much for your comment.
Perfect timing. This has been a topic that keeps coming up in my conversations with others. When you ask anyone how they are doing anymore, they seem to say “I’m so busy”. I do believe this is the enemy’s tool of distraction for this generation. I’m going to print out this prayer. Thank you Josh.
Dawn, Thanks so much. I think you’re exactly right. Busyness is a powerful weapon of the enemy. It is a form of idolatry because we put tasks above our relationship with God. Thanks for your encouragement and support.
Excellent post! I completely agree with what you say about Philippians 4:13. I was just talking to someone about that verse today, actually…how it’s one of those “mass-merchandise” verses that we are seeing everywhere (cute coffee mugs, notebooks/planners, t-shirts, etc.). And we use it to tell ourselves that we should do everything, do it flawlessly, all the time, no excuses. It reminds me of another saying that is popular now: “She believed she could, so she did”. As you say, we are often overwhelmed by things that are not meant to be in our list.
Thank you, Robin. I appreciate your thoughts and agree with you. Many of the verses that are marketed have been taken out of context. Philippians 4:13 is an incredible promise, a powerful assurance that God will carry us through the callings He’s put on our lives. But we must learn to take up His assignments and not our own. Blessings.
Tracking with you, my friend. I have been feeling overwhelmed lately. So your prayer will become my prayer to ponder this week. Thanks for your post
I’m so grateful to hear you found it helpful. This is a difficult issue in the culture of the American church. I pray the Lord will encourage you as you pray this prayer in the coming week.