^“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” (Philippians 4:6-7, NLT).

              The Kombo Loi, or worry beads became popular during the middle part of the twentieth century. The origins of the Kombo Loi date back to the time when Grecian monks lived on Mount Athos. They began making strands of beads by tying knots on a string at regular intervals as they offered their prayers to God.

              The Hebrew word that most closely relates to worry is interpreted as the feeling of being “tied into knots.” It captures the essence of one being bound by anxiety or constricted by fear. The allusion is similar to how a knot tightens up something.

              Yet rather than being restrained by their worries, the Mount Athos monks centered their prayers on each knot as a means of releasing their fears. The word, komboloi, is believed by many to be short for the phrase “in every knot I say a prayer.” Paul’s counsel to the church at Philippi follows similar suit. ^“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.”

              Paul offers two pieces of advice. First, name before God specifically what worries you. Too often our inner sense of anxiety goes unrecognized. We’re not fully aware of exactly what is troubling us. Yet Paul is of the belief that God can tame whatever you can name. Putting your finger on what bothers you will go far in untangling the anxiety that is binding you.

Even more, Paul insists that you express thanksgiving for the previous occasions in which God resolved the very things that once were bothering you. Regularly expressing gratitude strengthens the neural pathways related to positive emotions, making it easier to access and experience positive feelings. By consistently focusing on the ways God has come through for you in the past can gradually shift your thoughts toward a more hopeful future.

              So, resist the temptation to twist yourself into knots. Make your plea to the One who created the intertwining strands of your DNA to untangle your spirit. Grant him the opportunity to give you peace of mind before worry crushes you piece by piece.