Basilea Schlink teaches that by shutting out worries and embracing prayer and thanksgiving, believers can overcome the oppressive cares that threaten their joy and faith.
In this heartfelt testimony, Basilea Schlink shares her personal experience of overcoming worry through prayer and thanksgiving. She encourages believers to reject the mental 'forbidden territory' of anxiety by trusting in God's loving care. Through practical spiritual guidance, Schlink reveals how faith and childlike surrender to God can bring peace amid life's challenges.
Full Transcript
God lives and works today, but maybe you don't feel that way because so many worries and problems are getting you down. Today we'll be hearing a testimony from the life of Basilea Schlink. This testimony shares how to overcome worry.
We all have mountains of cares. There are cares which we ourselves cannot tear out of our hearts. Cares which want to oppress us so that we are no longer glad to be alive.
Prayer can help. Prayer can make these cares vanish. But what kind of prayer is necessary? In my experience, I've found that it is a matter of not giving cares and worries any room.
Shut the door. Don't let them in. Immersing oneself in cares and worries is trespassing on forbidden territory.
They spin a web around us to catch us in the intrigues of the enemy. They want to bring us into despair and hopelessness by painting everything black as though there were no almighty God, as though the cross that is laid upon us were too heavy. In these cases, there's nothing to do but dismiss these thoughts, to renounce them, and to begin to think the thoughts of God.
That means we have to think, pray, sing, and proclaim who God is. He's the Father of love. He cares for me.
I can cast all my anxieties upon Him. My will, it may be given to God, the Lord of heaven, who numbers every care. He knows my strengths, so wisely apportions every child that He will ever send to me.
When I surrender myself to Him in this manner, bringing all my cares and troubles to Him in childlike trust, and leaving everything to Him that weighs heavenly upon me, He will take over the responsibility every time. An important point is that we begin to thank Him for the other times and situations where He has granted His aid, when there seemed to be no way out, no solution. This will strengthen our faith for the present situations, which seem to be impossible.
Yes, we can banish cares and worries with prayers of thanksgiving. The prayer of thanksgiving has the power to make these cares yield, and at the same time, it is a joy to our Father in heaven. I praise Your kindness, O my God, Your love You have been listening to a program written by Basilea Schlink of the Little Land of Canaan.
To learn more about how God lives and works today, visit us at our website, www.canaan.org. That's K-A-N-A-A-N.org. If you contact us, we would be happy to send you a free inspirational booklet. If you do not have access to the web, please write to God Lives and Works Today, 9849 North 40th Street, Phoenix, Arizona, 85028-4099, USA. God bless you.
Sermon Outline
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I
- The reality of cares and worries in life
- How worries oppress and steal joy
- The need to address these cares spiritually
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II
- Prayer as the key to overcoming worries
- The importance of not giving worries room
- Shutting the door on forbidden territory
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III
- Replacing negative thoughts with thoughts of God
- Acknowledging God's love and care
- Casting anxieties on God with childlike trust
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IV
- The power of thanksgiving in prayer
- Remembering past deliverances to strengthen faith
- Joyfully praising God amid trials
Key Quotes
“Immersing oneself in cares and worries is trespassing on forbidden territory.” — Basilea Schlink
“I can cast all my anxieties upon Him. My will, it may be given to God, the Lord of heaven, who numbers every care.” — Basilea Schlink
“Yes, we can banish cares and worries with prayers of thanksgiving.” — Basilea Schlink
Application Points
- Reject anxious thoughts by consciously refusing to dwell on them.
- Use prayers of thanksgiving to recall God's past faithfulness and strengthen your current faith.
- Surrender your worries to God with childlike trust, believing He cares for every detail of your life.
