Anxious thoughts. Skirting the edges. Almost incognito.
Fears. Simmering just below the surface.
Concerns for loved ones and various situations. Rippling through as world crises ramp up.
Then, His Word. Memorized long ago. Invades with precision. Cutting through the muddle.
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6 NASB).
Be anxious for nothing
Be anxious for certain things? No.
Be anxious for one or two things? No.
Be anxious for nothing.
Well. That sounds really good and all. But anxious thoughts are a wild and unruly lot. Unpredictable. On the rise when I’m unaware.
Even as I’m pushing back, I turn in the Scriptures to that passage. For a slow, thoughtful read.
Strategic plan
Few words. But a strategic plan of action.
One tested and tried through the ages.
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Everything travels through day and night. All the things. Each situation and conversation. Every person and praise and problem.
The always of “pray always.”
Stabilizing truth
And through prayer and supplication? Of course.
But, with thanksgiving?
At first, this feels awkward. In the midst of the anxious.
But the very act of giving thanks sets me free. With stabilizing truth.
With thanksgiving
Pray with thanksgiving for the One who holds the universe in place and knows the innermost heart.
Pray with thanksgiving for the gospel that is the power of God for salvation and the solution to every anxious thought, every impossible scenario.
Pray with thanksgiving for His sovereignty and faithfulness.
The promise
Even through feeble words. With faltering faith. Such deliberate prayer moves me into the promise of the very next verse.
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
Thank You, Lord.
He is enough
So. In everything. Through prayer and supplication. With thanksgiving. Present your requests to God.
Say them aloud. Write them down.
Lay them out on the morning altar.
And remember the power that is His peace. Unmistakable. Beyond imagination.
He is enough.
What about you?
What has He taught you about “be anxious for nothing”? What have you learned about giving thanks?
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2 replies on “Be anxious for nothing”
I remember decades ago hearing a child pray “Thank You, God, for WalMart” and laughing to myself.
I never knew how gratitude changes my heart! It is transformative!
Also I never dreamt I would be without WalMart!
It is encouraging to be reminded again of these truths. Thanksgiving to God, I have found, will be also do good like a medicine for melancholy, anxious hearts. When my heart is overwhelmed within me… Start thanking Him. Thank you for sharing this timely word.