October 29, 2009

Enjoy another one of our guest writer's devotionals today

Do not be Anxious

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
In Philippians 4:6, Paul gives us a model for prayer. Paul is giving the church members of Phillippi final instructions and he tells them, “Do not be anxious about anything.”
Has anxiety overwhelmed you? In times of trouble and emotional distress are you able to remain at peace in the midst of the trial?
Psalm 55:22 says "Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall."
Anxiety and prayer are two great opposing forces to the Christian walk. Anxiety is counterproductive worry about the cares and concerns of our lives. Anxiety wears down a person’s emotional and physical ability to concentrate on positive solutions to our problems. Peter gives us similar instruction by saying “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7) There are a lot of things that we could worry about: the economy, our country, family situations and much more. But instead of anxiety, Paul gave instructions to the Philippian church to take everything to prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.
Prayer, petition with thanksgiving have positive benefits to diminishing your anxiety. Prayer and petition places the situations in God’s hands for Him to control. In his book, Today is Mine, Leroy Brownlaw says this of prayer, “Many times we cannot get the courage to stand on our feet until we get on our knees.” In addition to the divine assistance, prayer helps us gather our inner resources which afford strength. Strength and peace are found on our knees in prayer, releasing our burdens to the Lord so He can replace our worry
with peace.

A heart of thanksgiving is also important. How easy it is to grumble about our situations. We have many examples of this in the Old Testament where the Israelites were provided for in the desert. God supplied all of their needs by providing clothes that didn’t wear out, health, protection from their enemies (when they listened to Him), food and water. But, like what is typical of humanity, instead of thanking God for all that he has provided, we can turn our attention to those things that we have not received yet. Or even turn our focus on the things that haven’t come in the right time. Thanksgiving is the antidote for grumbling. Thanksgiving tells God how grateful we are to Him and helps us place our trust in His provision instead of trying to find the solutions on our own. Thanksgiving reminds us that “all good things comes from the Father.”

So if your heart is heavy today with worry and anxiety, remind yourself that by prayer and petition and thanksgiving, present your requests to God and He will give you the peace that you need to calm your heart and your spirit as He works in your situation.