“If you’re going to worry, don’t bother to pray, and if you’re going to pray, don’t worry.”

When I worry, it means I don’t believe there’s a God who cares about me. Have you ever felt God is so big and has so many people to look after? Is there no way He could make time for this humble servant? Well, He does. How can I say that? It’s one of those things I call knowing. I know about the air I breathe. I can’t see it, and without it, I would die. That makes it necessary, yet I trust it will always be there. When it comes to God, there’s this inner feeling, a knowing that I can’t put into words; it just is. It could be blind faith, but it’s more than that.

The second part is, “If you’re going to pray, don’t bother to worry.” This is the result of praying and trying to let go of fear, which is fueling the problem. For a long time, I wasn’t very successful in letting go. Early on, I called it “Claw marks.” Claw marks were in everything I tried to turn over or let go of. I still doubted Thomas, who needed to put his hand in Jesus’s side to be sure. Most of the time, I am 90% sure, but that nagging 10% can consume my focus.

Each time I turned things over, and the outcome is better than I could have imagined, I learned to trust just a little more. Today I can say I pray all the time and have almost zero worries.

When I pray, it’s not getting down on my knees and saying some rehearsed formal prayer. I do as Jesus taught, “Go into your room, close the door, and talk with your father who is in heaven.” I also know how the Kingdom of Heaven is inside me. We each have a Secret Place if we’re willing to look for it. The Secret Place is where I talk to God as I would speak to a perfect earthly father. I always wanted the “Leave it to Beaver” family, and now I have Him.

For me, the secret to success in prayer is practice. When a difficult circumstance raises its ugly head, take a deep breath before saying a prayer, asking for God’s guidance, and then let it go. Get busy doing something else, like helping others, without expecting anything in return. You will see how the situation unfolds once you step back and out of the driver’s seat. You may be pleasantly surprised how the outcome is far better than it may have been if you bulldozed your way through it.

Like many of the other ideas I’m trying to convey, it only works if you work it, so start today. Why wait, turn the worry you have right now over to God while stepping back to watch the outcome.