Now is the time to get cozy with a cup of tea (or lemon water, my personal favorite), because we are going to relax and settle in to learn a handy tool to reduce your stress! De-stress? S-D-P! Delightful!
Some days, it feels like we’re surrounded by stress—whether it’s our own, or the stress of our children, friends, and neighbors. Unfortunately, stress is a part of the human condition and our world.
But there’s good news! With our faith and a little tool called S-D-P, we can work on turning that stress into peace.
S-D-P—or, Stop, Drop and Pray
—is all about releasing the tension you hold in your mind, spirit, and body, and lifting all that stress up to the Lord.
Let’s begin with:
S-STOP:
The first thing you want to do is take a moment to pause any over-thinking, nail-biting, or nervous text or email-checking, and plug into God. Physically, you want to be doing your B-M-W (breathe, melt, and wiggle) that takes your mind and body away from the stress and keeps you from that fight/flight/fear reaction.
Mentally, now is the time to connect with the love that surrounds you. God is there, waiting for you to turn to Him, in this moment and in the next. So take this moment to really look to that Source of power, protection, direction. Plug into your Creator—He loves you. When you accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord of your life, as you surrender all your cares into His perfect plan and care, He will bring you through. He cares for you, and He will NEVER leave you!
Besides God, there are people out there who care about you, too. Sometimes, it’s hard to believe that you are really worthy of love—but you all are! Take this moment to remind yourself that in this great big world, there’s probably someone praying for you right now—like me.
D-DROP:
The “drop” is all about a physical and mental release. What are you holding in your heart, your head, your body? What is tensing you up and bringing you down?
You can take this moment to make the “drop” really physical. Lower yourself to your knees. Sit cross-legged and quiet yourself before your Creator.
And drop your concerns, too. Cry out to God, scribble them into your diary, type them into your phone’s memo. Let your worries go out of your mouth, up to God, and out of your mind. List the things that you can change for the better and save that for the morning, after prayer, when you can make improvements. Make another list of things that you cannot change. Prayerfully, put these concerns into the hands of our Creator, God of the Universe, who is in control of everything. Crumple up this “worry list,” drop it in the trash can, and let God take care of the outcome.
P-PRAY:
Prayer is communication. It’s speaking and listening. After you share your worries, needs, and hopes, take a moment to listen. God speaks through His Word. Read some passages from Scripture. Listen to Christian music or read the Psalms or Proverbs. What is God saying to your mind? Can you sense any answers or hints heading your way?
Remember, our all-powerful Father in Heaven is friend to all His children. And He’s an especially great friend to have around because He will never get tired of hearing your problems. And if you follow Him, trust in Him, He will get you through whatever comes.
Sometimes, we shy away from sharing our troubles with our friends, out of fear that they will judge us or grow tired of us. God never will! He’s always on the other line, ready to listen—and you don’t even need to dial! Our troubles can crush us or turn us to the only One who can save us. Don’t waste painful opportunities—fall back, out of control, into Jesus’ Almighty, everlasting arms. He will never let you fall farther than your knees. (Sara, it would be nice to show “Footprints” if that is possible somehow.)
S-D-P is something I incorporate into my practice. One mother I worked with—we’ll call her Julie—was suffering with headaches and digestive problems. With care, training, treatment, and coaching, we were able to determine that her issues were rooted in family stress caused by her son’s behavioral trouble. After a year of coaching, her headaches and digestive problems were resolved completely, while her son’s negative behaviors ceased.
My Clients’ S-D-P
Jeff, another client of mine, struggled with lower back pain, which we were able to determine was rooted in financial stress. He needed to learn how to reduce stress. With training and treatment, his lower back pain resolved and Jeff was able to find a new job—as well as the support he needed from family.
So now you’ve seen S-D-P in action. You can add it to your mental “toolbox,” along with some of my other steps like turning to your loving Creator first instead of last, building healthy habits, and B-M-W, so that whatever life throws at you, you have a “tool” to help deal with it!
Before we go, I want to share a few special prayers for you.
The first is Proverbs 3:5-8:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.”
That sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?
Here’s another one I like: 1 John 5:4.
“…for whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.”
As I sign off, I also want to share my personal prayer for you:
Father in heaven, Creator and King, thank you, God Almighty, for who You are. Thank you that You do care for my friend’s and my cares. You love us, You are with us always, and You can guide us and get us through difficult situations if we’ll only let You. So I thank You, Father, for giving comfort when comfort is needed, mercy to relieve stress, and the ability to remember that Your ways are not our ways. What can we learn from what we’re going through that will make life better, but that will also honor You and be the best for us? Help us remember S-D-P. So I thank You, Father, for You being with my friend today, and I pray, Father, that they have a wonderful “God day”. In Jesus’s Almighty Name, amen.
I hope you know that I am rooting for your healing, and so is God! S-D-P!
