The Worry Bag

By Timothy Brown
Object:    A small paper bag, marker, and pad of paper
Theme:   Jesus has the power to give you peace over any problem you                        face. 
Scripture:   Philippians 4:6-7
Lesson: 
  1. If you are a child of God, Jesus has the power to give youPaper Bag Object Lesson Visual peace over any problem you face. The difficulty is that it’s easy to worry when problems hit. God says in Philippians 4:6 that you and I are not to worry about anything. Is that possible? Yes, it is. If God says to do something, He will give you the power and ability to do it. 
  2. God says that instead of worrying, you need to take the problem to Him—with thanksgiving—and ask for His help to deal with it. 
  3. Let’s take a look at a way you can learn to not worry. I have here a paper lunch bag that has “Worry Bag” written on it. Here’s how it works. When I have something that causes me to worry, I remember that God says to give it to Him. I write the worry down on a piece of paper (demonstrate while talking) and put it in the bag. Before it goes in the bag, I pray about it. 
  4. My prayer goes something like this…Dear God, this problem is making me worried. I’m thinking about the problem more than I’m thinking about You. God I know You are big enough to handle this problem and will give me what I need to handle it as well. God, I’m giving this problem and worry over to you and want to thank you for the help You are going to give. Help me to not worry about it anymore, but trust You. Amen.  
  5. When you finish praying, put the paper in the bag and walk away, but what I’ve found is that often it is easy to start worrying about it again later. When you find that happening, go back to the bag, pull the paper out and read it, give it to God again, and put it back in the bag. Do this every time you worry about it and you know what happens? You'll go for longer periods of time without worrying about it and eventually get to the place where you don’t worry about it anymore.
  6. If you have problems with worry, make your own “Worry Bag” and follow these same steps. If you follow the steps properly, you'll find that over a period of time, you’ll worry less and less and trust God more.