When I was a teenager I began what I called then my “Worry Box.” I would write on any scrap of paper I happened to have my worries and place them in the box which symbolized placing them in God’s hands. In this way, I would encourage myself to let my worries go and leave them to God.
About 5-10 years later that idea evolved into what I now call my “Prayer Box.” It’s the same idea, but on the lid I have written:
“We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you… I sought the LORD and he answered me, he delivered me from all my fears.” Psalms 33:20-22; 34:4
Everything; every worry, stress, and fear, I put in this box is to be forgotten and left in God’s hands. This is to remind me that he is in control, I’m not. And he always has my best in mind.
“For I know the plans I have for you declares the LORD. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jer. 29:11
~Tara L. Cole, May 9, 2004
I cannot tell you how much this box has helped me in the last 9 years. Whenever I try to take something back that I placed in here, I physically open my hands reminding myself to give it back to God. Most of the time now, I don’t even need to do that. When the problem is here, I know God’s got it.
Reading back through these prayers and writing down the answers to them on the papers has also been a huge encouragement! Would you believe that 9 years ago I was totally stressed out about the decision to stay with my bank job or to go pursue a career in Interior Design? I was also worried about having to work when we eventually had kids, when we were ever going to have kids, or even if we would make good parents. At that time I was also wondering about if and when we would eventually move to the Tulsa area. God has answered all of these prayers with amazing results!
I would have never believed then that I would go on to pursue a Masters in Composition and Rhetoric, which would allow me to teach from home online and stay at home with my kids. I would have never believed when our marriage was just recovering nine years ago, that we would work together great as parents, and that I would fall more in love with Jeremy every time I witness how much he loves our kids and what a great dad he is. I would have never believed that we would move to Tulsa nine years later! and be blessed with just the house we need for this time in our lives. God has abundantly provided!
If you’re struggling today under the weight of worry, stress, and problems that seem to much for you to bear, I encourage you to make a pray box on your own. It doesn’t have to been anything fancy. My first one was an old card box, and my current one is a cheap old knife box that I picked up somewhere. Anything will do. The important thing is that you write down some verses that will remind you that God is in control and a letter to yourself reminding you to place your worries in God’s hands and leave them there.
Today, I encourage you, place your worries and problems in God’s hands and leave them there. I promise he is more than capable of handling them.
What a great idea! I’ve been wanting to start a prayer journal for our family so that our children can read it when they get older. But this method would be easier to do on the fly. Visiting from the Better Mom link-up. 🙂