8 16 12 Anxiety, Peace, Prayer, Practice
Life verse shared by Dan Linstedt. Thanks Dan.
Scripture: Philippians 4:6-9 (NIV) 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Note: Is it possible to live without anxiety or worrying? It seems that it would be impossible. There are too many things going on in life that offer us the opportunity to be anxious and to worry. We are anxious about our families, our jobs, our health and our relationships. It seems that there is very little about life that doesn’t cause us to be anxious or to worry. The apostle Paul in our text for today reveals an important truth. The way to deal with anxiety is to pray. In other words Paul’s advice is to turn our anxiety, our worries, into prayers. Do you want to be anxious less often? Then pray more often. Whenever you become anxious and start to worry, stop and pray. How can this possibly help us to be less anxious? Consider the following suggestions:
(1) When we pray we take our minds off the difficulties that have caused our anxiety and focus instead on the power of God to deal with the challenges that have caused our anxieties. God has made each and every one of us a promise, his grace will be sufficient and he will “work all things together for good to those who love him and who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
(2) When we pray we are affirming our faith in God’s faithfulness to do whatever needs to be done that will strengthen us and “grow us up in the faith.” The trials and tribulations of life that cause our anxiety will actually cause us to have greater faith in the sufficiency of Jesus Christ and his love for us. Our faith will be strengthened (1 Peter 5:7; Matthew 6:25-34).
(3) When we pray we release those things that cause our anxiety and concerns to God. When we do, we find that God will replace those things with his peace. God’s peace is a peace that is supernatural in origin and is unlike anything that the world can offer. It is “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, (and) will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7). This peace of God is available to all believers at all times. It is not based on feelings or our present situations but on the loving relationship we have with God. God’s peace in us is based on the confidence we have in Jesus Christ to meet every need and challenge we encounter in life.
(4) As we pray the Holy Spirit will remind us that even though there are things in life that can cause us to be greatly trouble, there is nothing that can ever separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35).
(5) When we pray and ask God for his help we are casting our burdens, our anxieties on him, because we know he loves us. Our concerns are his concerns.
Once we have turned our anxieties into prayers there is an additional step that is necessary. We are to replace our anxious thoughts with thoughts that are true, decent, right, pure, lovely, and admirable (Phil 4:8). These are the thoughts that exalt God and result in praise and honor to Christ. Why is this important? What we put into our minds determines what comes out of our hearts. As believers we are to think of those things that are pure and right. If we do, God’s peace is ours. Much of our anxiety is a result of what we put into our minds; the things we see, read and watch. When you stop and consider all the clamoring going on around us, how much of it meets God’s standards of purity…of holiness? To have less anxiety in our lives the things we are reading and watching need to be spiritually nourishing things. We need to ask God to help us examine what we are putting into our minds and to give us a fresh hunger for the things that lead us to right-living. Paul follows his challenge to us, “think about such things” by an equally important challenge;” “put it (those things) into practice, and the God of peace will be with you.” Not only will spiritually healthy thoughts lead to a healthy you, they will also enable you to bear the fruit of Christlikeness. Remember dear friends it is not enough to hear the Word but we must do the Word. Walk your talk.
Word from the Lord: “Beloved, don’t fret and worry, instead pray. Let your anxieties shape the petitions you place before me. Speak them and then release them to me and as you do know that I am working on a solution in your behalf. After you have petitioned me fill your mind with my promises and let my Word replace your worries and fears. I can turn the worst into the best for you; the ugly into beauty; giving you reason to worship and praise me. I am God and I can make all things work together for your good.”
Did the Lord speak to you today? Why not write it down and claim it for His Glory.
Prayer: What do you need to pray to the Lord today? Listen to your heart. He loves you!
If you are not interesting in receiving these devotionals please let me know and I will remove you from the list. I hope you enjoy them and that they encourage you to faithfulness. david
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