During The Holidays, Down Regulate Through Prayer

In this episode, we explore how prayer helps women downregulate holiday stress and find steady peace. Through simple practices and key scriptures, we show how to turn Mental and physical stress into a calm, ongoing conversation with God.

• common signs of stress in body and mind
• why prayer is a daily, practical habit
• how to pray: talking and listening to God
• scriptures that orient the mind toward prayer and provide peace
• using gratitude in prayer to reframe worry
• simple rhythms for morning, midday and evening
• encouragement to focus on God during busy holidays

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Send a text to the show to let us know what's on your heart and the topics you would like to hear next.

Scripture References:

1 Thessalonians 5:16-17

James 4:8

Isaiah 26:3

Philippians 4:6-7

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Chapters

• 0:00 Holidays Bring Joy And Strain
• 0:52 From Stress Signals To Solutions
• 1:04 Prayer As A Calming Practice
• 2:28 Scriptures For Peace And Focus
• 4:24 Invitation To Pray And Share

Transcript

CONSTANCE LAVONICE: 0:00

The holidays are approaching. Generally, it's a good time as we think of family, time off from work, celebrations, but it can also be stressful. The busyness, expectations, and anticipations, and even though it's a good thing, before you realize it, you find yourself in a state of stress, worry, what I have to do, didn't do, or forgot to do, feeling anxious, mentally drained, physical tension in your shoulders, neck, or back, headaches, heart palpitations, clenching your jaws, these are all signs of a stress response. There are ways to overcome a stress response, like diaphragmatic breathing, relaxation exercises, and I talked about meditation last week. The Bible gives us another solution. We can downregulate our stress response through prayer. You're listening to Whole Heart Conversations, a podcast especially for women to receive biblical encouragement that fosters resilience through the practical application of God's word. I'm your host, Constance Lavonice. So what is prayer? Prayer is simply having a conversation, talking, communicating with God. And not only talking and communicating with God, but also listening to what you sense He's saying to you. And that may seem strange, but in reality, we have conversations all the time with ourselves. So instead of having a conversation in your mind with yourself, direct that conversation to God. And it can be a quiet prayer or you can pray out loud. Sometimes it's not appropriate to pray out loud, but we can always pray in our heads and in our minds. Scripture tells us to pray. First Thessalonians chapter 5, verses 16 and 17 states, rejoice always, pray without ceasing. This instructs us to pray always. Just like we get up each morning and we brush our teeth, prayer should be a daily practice. James chapter four, verse eight says, Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. As we focus on prayer, we focus our mind on God and away from all of the activities, and God will draw near to us. Isaiah chapter 26, verse 3 says, You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you. Perfect peace. That's the opposite of anxiety, worry, and tension. Whatever we focus on the most is what we manifest. So in the process of your daily life, in the process of the busyness of preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas and the new year, focus on God. Keep your mind stayed on God. And lastly, Philippians chapter four, verses six and seven says, don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. God will give us a peace that surpasses understanding as we pray. His peace. So, ladies, I want to encourage you this week to pray, fellowship with God, and allow His peace to reign in your heart. Downregulate your stress response through prayer. And if you've heard anything helpful, please subscribe, encourage your friend, and share. And send a text to the show to let us know what's on your heart and the topics you would like to hear next.