Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Paul’s letter to the Philippians is simply incredible. I believe one could spend at least an entire year plumbing the depths of these four chapters and still not be completely done. We, however, do not have a year, but roughly a page, so we’ll have to center in on one of Paul’s closing exhortations to the church at Philippi.
The teaching is clear when we read it; don’t be anxious about anything but instead pray and give thanks in everything. Easier said than done of course. It’s always easy to worry, but it isn’t always easy to focus on God through prayer. But when we do move from worrying about things to praying about things, I believe there are three crucial gifts that we can receive from God.
First, moving from worry to prayer allows us to properly experience God’s power. When we worry about something, what we’re saying is that we have the power to fix our problems or give ourselves a better, more full life. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The only balm for our woes comes from God and the gift of His son Jesus Christ. When we stop worrying and start praying, we are ceding that the power really lies with God, not with ourselves. Jesus said that His “yoke is easy, and my burden is light,” in Matthew 11:30. The power to provide what Jesus spoke about lies with Him, not our ability to worry things right.
Second, when we prioritize prayer and thanksgiving, we properly experience God’s presence. God longs to be with us, so much so that He sent His Son and then, once the Son ascended into heaven and took His place at the right hand of the Father, sent us the Holy Spirit just as Christ promised in John 14:16-17. Our worry can make us miss the forest for the trees, because without prayer and thanksgiving we can forget how close our God has made Himself to us. Shifting from worrying to praying makes us properly aware of that presence, and we become all the better for it.
Finally, shifting from worry to prayer allows us to properly experience God’s peace. Paul says that ceasing our worry and taking up our prayer that “the God of peace will be with you,” in Philippians 4:9b, and furthermore he remarks earlier that this peace of God is peace “which surpasses all understanding,” in Philippians 4:7a. Jesus promised in John 10:10 that He “came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Our God has an incredible peace to give to us, and He gives it to us freely. We don’t have to strive for it. We don’t have to earn it. We just must stop worrying, allow the Spirit to dwell in our lives, and bask in the glorious peace that passes understanding.
I’ll always be the first to say, my tendency is nearly always to worry. This devotion is as much for me as it is for you. But when we stop worrying and when we start praying for all things and offering thanksgiving to our God who truly deserves all thanks and praise, we experience the power, the presence, and the peace of God.
I pray that you come to know just that.
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