Journey of Prayer: Day 24

Journey of Prayer

Day 24

Thursday February 4, 2021

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Sisters, we live in a world where we find ourselves, perhaps even more than we’d like to admit, anxious and stressed out. If I’m being real, I have been experiencing this over the last week or so. I know it has a lot to do with the weather…I need sunshine. But I also feel the pressure to make 2021 better in every way than 2020 and I think it is playing with my mindset a bit! Oh, how the enemy loves it when I get myself all worked up! When I feel myself going to that place of worry and doubt I remind myself of the Philippians verse above. In this scripture, Paul instructs us to consciously refuse to worry and then to pray about everything while praising the Lord for His answer. As Christians, we know this is what we are supposed to do, but it’s a lot easier said than done. We may pray for God to help us with a situation we are facing. We may even “give it all” to God. But most of us, as soon as we finish praying, snatch it back out of His hands and start stressing about it all over again—as if we could fix it better than God can!

I think that another reason we are anxious is because we assume that God behaves the way people do—that His treatment of us depends on how He feels at the moment instead of Who He is. I am sure God experiences a level of pain, frustration and even annoyance when we, His children, act as if Christ hadn’t died for us. Yet, He loves and forgives us no matter how often we do that. But when we expect God to respond the way humans do, we end up worrying that even though God has answered our previous prayer, He might not answer the next one. After all, that’s what people do. They are unpredictable, fickle and often uncaring. But God isn’t like that. We are worrying about something that isn’t true. Hebrews 13:8 tells us that God/Jesus Christ/The Holy Spirit “...is the same yesterday, today and forever.” In her devotional, Chris takes this a step further, reminding us that God is also “the Provider yesterday, today and tomorrow.” Therefore, we can be sure that He will answer the next prayer and all future ones.

Sometimes, though what we are asking for is not right for us or is not right at this moment in our lives. When this happens, the answer from God will be, “No,” or “Wait patiently for My timing.” Although this is disappointing, I have discovered that when we line up our prayer with the truth of His Word, we can be assured that “...all the promises of God in [Christ Jesus] are Yes...” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Sisters, we can be “... confident of this, that he who began a good work in [us] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). So, let’s raise our hands in the air as we praise Him for being our Peace Giver!

Father, forgive us for stressing out over all kinds of things. It isn’t Your desire that we live worried and anxious. Forgive us for trying to control everything. Help us give control to You, so that we can relax in Your peace. Let us get into the habit of automatically praising You whenever we pray, knowing that You love us and will always provide.

For further reading: Psalm 94:19; Romans 12:12; John 14:27

Footnote: As I write this post I am thinking about all of you reading this. I feel the Spirit prompting me to tell you that I type the words on the keyboard, I am praying for anything in your life that is causing you worry and anxious thoughts. If there is a something specific situation that you’d like for any of us Soul Sisters to join with you in prayer, BIG or little, please feel free to reply to this post. There are some mighty prayer warriors in this group. Sometimes it helps just to speak it to someone else who can support you in prayer.