1. Prayer as stress relief
Many of the stresses in our lives are caused by
our trying to take on our stress by our own
strength. Using prayer as a stress reliever can
Offer another option…and I believe that it can
become one of your best ways of relieving
stress.

2. What Is Prayer?.... Prayer is a tool that you use to communicate
with God. In it we can pour our hearts, feelings,
emotions, and thoughts to God. We can cry out
in our stressful times for guidance and strength,
and in so doing, give much of the burden for our
stress up to Him.

3. What Is Prayer?.... Prayer can also be used to praise and thank God
for what he has given to us, what we have been
blessed with. When we do this, we find that life
really isn't as bad as we assume, and we find
that we still have a lot of good things that we
can cling to in our stressful times.

4. What Is Prayer?.... Prayer is not just a one-way-street. In prayer, as
in any other form of communication is two
sided. We talk to God, but then we have the
chance to stop, be still, and listen to Him. You
can hear His voice, primarily through His Word,
the Bible, but you can also hear His voice in your
heart as you tune into his frequency with study
of His Word also.

5. What Prayer Is Not Prayer is not a “genie in a bottle,” or a “quick
fix.” Not everything that we want in our lives is
good for us, nor is all stress that we are going
through “bad stress.” In Prayer, we also need to
begin to trust that God will allow what is best for
us to happen. God’s love as a good father (contrary
to many of our physical fathers) is something that
we can rely upon and lean on His strength and
wisdom.

6. How It's Done.... There are different ways to pray.
Some people pray out loud
Some people pray quietly to themselves
Some people pray with others and lean on the support of friends and family, or a pastor
No matter how we pray, we can be honest,
real, and sometimes raw. Don’t worry, God can
handle it!

7. Stress Relief Benefits....
There are two major benefits of prayer as a stress reliever:
The weight of your stress is lifted because you have allowed God to take on your cares and worries.
The time you spend in prayer gives your body a chance to calm down and relax. This releases your body from the “stress toxins” that have been holding it captive.

8. My Favorite Prayers Here are some of my favorite prayers. I use
these as a template to get me started and go
wherever I am lead to go in my prayers.
A Prayer for Life
The Daily Prayer
A Bedtime Prayer
St. Patrick’s Breastplate