What To Do With Problems

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank him for his answers.

Philippians 4:6 TLB

What do you do when you have a problem? Do you worry? Most of us do. But does worrying solve the problem? No, it does not. Then if worry doesn’t solve the problem, why worry?

Hezekiah gives us an idea for problem solving: “And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou are the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou has made heaven and earth. . . .”

Then Hezekiah prayed: “Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou are the LORD God, even thou only” (2 Kings 19:14–15, 19).

Hezekiah’s unselfish prayer had a purpose, one that God could not ignore.

Hezekiah, who was used to taking his problems directly to God, took the problem that the king of Assyria was about to attack Jerusalem to the Lord. And God answered and miraculously caused this powerful king to be defeated.

Instead of turning to God as a first resource, we so often turn to Him as a last resort. Follow Hezekiah’s formula. Turn to God first with your problems, for only He is capable of handling them in a way that will be in your best interest.

Our Father and our God, thank You for always answering my prayers. Right now I pray for Your protection and salvation. Only You, O Lord, can save me from the many problems brought on by my enemy, the devil. Defeat him in his attack on my life, Father. Keep me close to You through Christ Jesus, my Lord. Amen.

Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).