There is an antidote for worry. It is prayer. If ever we have been inclined to worry before, surely we have more cause than ever now. But worry accomplishes nothing. It was not appropriate for living, as Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount, nor is it appropriate in the presence of death.
So we must apply a strong discipline. We must ask ourselves what worries we have. We must separate them and list them. Whether they are worries about ourselves, or concerning our nearest and dearest; whether about the leaving of our affairs, or regrets for the past; make it today's spiritual pilgrimage to isolate them and bring them, one by one, before the Saviour. Take that list and pray about each matter. Take each item specifically to the Lord. Bring it before Him. Some of the matters are so deep rooted and so near to our hearts that simple prayer will not suffice. Supplication will not only be more appropriate but will come most readily to hand.
To supplicate is to beg; to acknowledge that we cannot ask as of right, and that we are asking a favour. Jesus prayed with strong tears. Tears may flow, but not all tears are strong tears. Strong tears are the tears of faith. Tears flow from strength and not weakness when faith believes wholeheartedly in the promises of God and is overcome with gratitude; or when issues of great consequence are resolved in the presence of the living God by faith.
Thanksgiving shows appreciation. It indicates that we do not take our benefits lightly. It traverses all the goodness with which we have been endowed from our earliest days and brings a refreshing tone to our requests.
Of course, now is the time to let our requests be known and to ask for many other things. Unlike Joash, king of ancient Israel, we should not let the arrows of our prayers cease after two or three attempts.
We should not cease to ask spiritual blessings. We should not stop praying for the coming of the Lord's kingdom, as if it concerned us no longer. Our prayers must range as widely as ever, perhaps more so.
Now is the time to redouble our prayers for children and grandchildren whom we must leave behind, that they may soon be saved -- for, in answer to our great concern, the Lord may be so gracious and make our very death to be a means to their conversion.
Now is also the time to intercede for the church which we have always supported and whose fellowship we have loved -- for we have no need to desert that godly fellowship and its work until the day the Lord calls us home, if mind and memory are spared to us.