Philippians 4:6 – Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
For anyone that has ever suffered from anxiety, telling them not to be anxious does no good at helping alleviate anxiety. But today’s verse does exactly that. It starts out with “Do not be anxious about anything.” Nothing. The question becomes, how?
The answer follows. Prayer and petition with thanksgiving are how you combat anxiety. We are not told to ignore things that cause us to worry, nor are we to pretend life is better than it is. We are told to seek God, to present our requests directly to Him. He already knows our needs and He knows the outcomes. He also knows our fears, anxiety, stress levels, and unease. And as we learned a few days back, the Spirit is already interceding on our behalf (Romans 8:26). There really is no reason to be caught up in anxiety.
That doesn’t mean that we will never face anxiety again, or that the current anxiety inducing struggle is resolved. What it DOES mean is that our initial action should be prayer. Any time we are faced with something that stirs up worry, fear, or anxiety in our lives, we should first and foremost seek God through prayer and petition. And we should be thankful that He answers (Colossians 4:2), watching and listening for His response.
Today let’s focus on eliminating as much stress, fear, and anxiety as possible from our lives. Send up those prayers, lift up your voices in petition. And be free of the things that are holding you back (2 Corinthians 3:17). Trust that He hears you and is working in your lives.
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