WEEK 39 – DAY 4

DO NOT BE ANXIOUS

Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

God’s peace will be mounted as a sentinel around our hearts and minds in the midst of situations in which most people would consider it quite normal to be anxious. What is the condition for having that calm, protected feeling? When we begin to worry about something, we must take it to the Lord in prayer with thanksgiving. In other words, we must ask in faith (James 1:6). We need to be able to worship God with gratitude even before the answer to our prayer is visible. We love the definition of faith from Hebrews 11:1 as found in the Amplified Version: “Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title-deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality – faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses.” When we begin to feel anxiety, we need to take the problems that are weighting us down to the Lord and, by faith, thank Him in advance for the peace He will give us. We need to worship Him in our prayer and trust that He only allows those things in our lives that will make us more like Jesus (Romans 8:28-29). Being able to pray with this confidence takes practice. Sometimes our minds must tell our emotions that we’re going to trust God whether we feel like it or not. We must trust the goodness of God as fact even when our senses or our emotions cannot see what good can possibly come out of a situation. Fortunately, God understands that we humans struggle with this; and it is okay to pray like the father who brought his son to Jesus for healing, “Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief” (Mark 9:24).

Father help us to bring all our cares to You trusting that You care for us as Your word tells us in I Peter 5:7. You are our loving father, and by faith, we praise You now for all that You will do in and through us in the future. Thank You for Your loving-kindness to us.