I receive positive feedback whenever I preach about worry. I seriously doubt it has much to do with the profundity of the message. Rather, the subject matter touches a felt need in people. Over the years, I’ve collected my favorite quotes on worry. Here is but a sample:
“Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but never gets you anywhere” (Erma Bombeck)
“Worry is like paying a debt you don’t owe.” (Mark Twain)
“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows; it empties today of its strength.” (Corrie Ten Boom)
“Pray and let God worry.” (Martin Luther)
“Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.” (Arthur Roche)
Jesus said it best, “Do not worry” because your heavenly Father knows well what you need” (Mt. 6.25-34).
The Leonine Sacramentary is a compilation of prayers from the seventh century that were bound in a book as an aid to worship. Although they were attributed to Pope Leo (hence the name Leonine), they are likely the work of numerous contributors dating as far back as the fifth century. The prayers are arranged for every day of the year. The first part of the manuscript is lost to us, so the prayers begin in mid-April. These prayers were found in a library of old manuscripts in an Italian cathedral in 1735. What do these prayers have to do with worry? Several of them, such as the one that follows here, gather our worries to God in prayer: