Prayer, Petition, Thanksgiving

This time of the year brings a wide variety of feelings and emotions for all of us. We’ve experienced everything from the stresses of plans and travel to the joys of being with family and friends. But then for some of us there is loneliness and even depression. Nothing can instantly make the difficulties of life disappear, but God has given us things to help us cope, get through them, and give us hope for better days. Philippians 4:6 is one of these things…

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Philippians 4:6 (NIV)

Do not be anxious…

The word “anxious” here means to have worry about something to the point of distraction. And by distraction I mean to the point where it causes one to take their eyes and faith off of God. This doesn’t mean we’ll never care deeply about things and be concerned about how things will work out. And it doesn’t mean that we won’t work on resolving problems. But it does mean that we won’t be overcome by pessimism and doubt. We will look for answers and patiently have confidence that God is still there, He still cares, and He has our best interest at heart.

Prayer…

Sometimes we get so busy or overwhelmed that we forget to pray. Paul wrote that one of the keys to not being anxious is prayer – talking to God about it. The Spirit says that we should be praying, “…in every situation…” (Ph 4:6). That’s good situations and bad situations. When we feel blessed and when we feel in desperate need of blessing. When something happens, don’t forget to pray!

Petition…

The word “petition” in Philippians 4:6 is sometimes translated “supplication” (ESV, NKJV) and “pleading” (NASB). It IS a begging, intense expression, word. That means that our prayers are just a flippant, thoughtless, mindless memorized prayer. They express what is going on in our lives and deep in our hearts. We can pour ourselves out to God – “dump” on Him and it will help our anxiety.

Thanksgiving…

We can say and ask for anything in prayer, but don’t forget to thank God too! “…with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Ph 4:6). Thanksgiving helps us look beyond problems to see that we do have good in our lives. And it reminds us that God is the source of all that we are thankful for. Thankfulness is another key to overcoming anxiety.

This year pray, ask, give thanks. It has the power to change things!      dd