Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4 v 6–7, NKJV)
I don’t know anyone that can say they’ve never worried about something, no matter how big or small the problem was. We’ve all done it at some point. Maybe it’s exams coming up or there’s a situation at work you’re worried about, but we’ve all gone through some form of worry and anxiety! Our worry can overcome us and we mightn’t know how to deal with it. It can gnaw away at our hearts and minds and take away any joy we have. So how do we as Christians conquer this worry and anxiety? We look to God’s Word!
In this passage Paul tells us how to use prayer with supplication and thanksgiving to cast your worries and anxieties to God. When we find ourselves worrying about something, no matter how big or how small it may seem, our first thought and action should be to pray and worship God because He is big enough to solve all our problems, so we have no need to worry!
Sometimes we rush into prayer and just ask for what we think we need without any real thought about it, but He is our God and we should firstly approach Him with love and adoration. He sent His Son to die for us on the cross because of His love for us even though we are all sinners, so we should show our love for Him in our prayers! Prayer is our way of communicating with God and we can do it anytime and anywhere. It allows us to have a personal relationship with Him, one in which we can cast all our cares and fears to Him knowing He will always listen.
Paul says in verse 6 we should approach with supplication. This is the sincere sharing to God of our problems, worries and needs and we shouldn’t be half hearted in our prayers to Him either. God isn’t half hearted about all the promises He has made to us or half hearted about His amazing love for us, so we shouldn’t be half hearted in our prayers. By sharing honestly our worries with God, it shows that we constantly need God to be right by our side, and He will always be there! He doesn’t just stay with you for the weekend or for a few days of the week; He is not a part time God, so we shouldn’t only pray part time when we feel we need His help most either. Maybe we think that a problem isn’t big enough to pray to God about, but if it’s big enough to make you worry then it is certainly big enough to bring before God!
Verse 6 also says we should pray with thanksgiving. But giving thanks isn’t always the first thing that pops into your head when you’re worried out of your mind about something! It isn’t always automatic in our prayers either, but we should give thanks to God for everything He has done for us. Think back to the many times He has lifted you out of trials and sustained you. We sometimes forget about all these times He has helped us but it’s important we take the time to thank Him! We can be so eager to ask God for things that we think we need but can be very slow to appreciate the things He has already done for us and will do for us.
The result of our sincere prayers is that the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds. This doesn’t mean that we won’t face anymore trials or that we won’t ever worry again, but that we can have a confidence that God will be with us no matter what the situation we’re worried about is and He will guard your heart!
So the next time you’re worried about anything, no matter how big or small, pray to the Lord about it, and pray sincerely with supplication and thanksgiving and He will help you through and He will be with you and you can receive the peace of God in your heart!
