04 Feb Freedom from Anxiety
One verse that I go to time and time again is Philippians 4:6 which states “be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
Although I have read this verse countless times, I must confess that I have not fully studied it, nor embraced it as a way of life. As we continue to embark on a journey to live by faith I want to spend some time dissecting this verse phrase by phrase to explore how we can practically incorporate it into our lives:
1. “Be careful for nothing” – One version says “do not be anxious about anything.” In other words there is nothing, not one thing, that we should be anxious, worried or concerned about. It doesn’t say be anxious for nothing except for the bills you have or do not be anxious about anything except the doctor’s report; it says do not be anxious about anything. Are you sitting around, losing sleep, worrying about something? Stop it!
2. “but in everything by prayer” – Replace worry with prayer. Take everything to God. There is no problem too big for Him. There is nothing too small or trivial for Him.
3. “and supplication” – We should present all of our concerns to God and petition Him for the healing, deliverance, resolution that we need. Interestingly, the word supplication means to petition humbly. In other words, we have to humble ourselves before Him and humbly request all that we need. There is no room for ego.
4. “with thanksgiving” – not only should we humbly place our requests before Him in prayer, but we should approach Him with an attitude of thanksgiving. We should be thankful that because of who He is we can be assured that whatever we ask, according to His will, is already done.
5. “let your requests be made known unto God” – God already knows what we need before we ask Him, but we still need to take our requests to Him. Why? Because it demonstrates our faith and our reliance on Him. Time and time again we see examples of Jesus healing someone AFTER there was a request. Not only that, but in those cases He responded that He healed them because of their faith.
Philippians 4:6 is a wonderful step by step guide for managing anxiety and living by faith but Philippians 4:7 is truly a bonus. After we have gone to God in prayer and humbly petitioned Him with an attitude of thanksgiving, Scripture then goes on to say that “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep our hearts and minds through Christ.” I don’t know about you, but I want to experience that kind of peace.
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