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Aneel Aranha is an author, preacher, and evangelist who has spoken to hundreds of thousands of people around the world. You can find a huge selection of his reflections, articles, sermons, songs and other resources on his website www.aneelaranha.com.

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Hakuna Matata

November 07, 2022 • Aneel Aranha • Episode 137

0:00 | 3:39

Instead of worrying, we should try some meditation instead. As a bonus, we will become prosperous and successful!

137: Hakuna Matata

Hello and welcome to The Hope Podcast. I’m Aneel Aranha. Today we are going to talk about how we should try some meditation if we want to be prosperous and successful!

Do you worry? Sure you do. Now, what is worry? It is thinking about something troublesome over and over again until you lose your health, your sleep, your peace of mind, and sometimes even your sanity. Want a quick fix?

Do the same thing but think about the word of God instead. You will become healthy, you will get good sleep, you will obtain peace of mind, and, if you've lost it, you will regain your sanity. If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate. So don't worry, meditate!

As a bonus, you'll also become prosperous and successful. Speaking for God, Joshua said: "Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful" (Joshua 1:8). The psalmist concurred: The person who meditates on his law day and night is like a tree planted by streams of water — whatever they do prospers (Psalm 1:2-3)

So how do we meditate? Do you know how cows ruminate? It may seem a little gross to humans, but to cows, chewing your cud (that's bringing partially digested food up from the stomach for another chew) is just a natural part of life and helps it to extract as much of the nutrients in the food as it can.

Figurative ruminating is similar. You read a bit of Scripture, you chew on it briefly, then let it rest in your mind (instead of your stomach) for a while, then bring it up again later, chew on it some more, and repeat the process until you have extracted as much out of it as you can. There's nothing to it, really.

Why don't you chew on one of my favorite passages this week as a little exercise? It's Paul's advice to the Philippians. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).

Before we get to the weekend, I can practically guarantee you that you will have stopped worrying, will have memorized the verses, and will be well on your way to prosperity and success because you are no wasting time on unproductive thoughts!

Hakuna matata!

May the Spirit be with you.