| “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” |
| —Philippians 4:6-7 |
There it is! The key statement! It’s right there in the middle of the verse at the beginning of this blog post!
“… with thanksgiving …”
Who has time to be thankful in the middle of an anxiety producing crisis? Apparently God expects it of us regardless of the circumstances.
“But, what have I to thank Him for when I am in trouble?”
We can always begin by thanking God for Who He is. Elsewhere in Scripture we read that God has almighty power. Even the devil and his demons shudder at that! (see James 2:19) That means that God is bigger than any trouble we may have. We can also look to His omniscience—His “all-knowing wisdom”—concerning us. God knows us in more detail than we know ourselves. And, God knows about every situation in which we may find ourselves.
Add to that, God’s omnipresence—His “everywhere presence”—which He has promised will never leave us or forsake us. We can also thank God that nothing comes our way unless He allows it. It’s true that God has a perfect plan for us, and He wants to use everything, even our troubles, to accomplish His perfect will in us and for us. Therefore, we must wholeheartedly thank Him for it!
In the middle of any prayer-producing crisis in our lives, for what else can we give thanks to God? We can remember how God has treated us in the past. We can focus on how God has answered our prayers. We can remember how God has spared us from worse harm than we experienced. We can recall how God has revealed His love to us during each situation we had to face in our lives.
Has God answered our prayers and healed us before? Then, we must thank Him, and allow that remembrance to take away our fears. Has God provided for us when we have needed help? In response, we must praise God for His faithfuleness. Don’t fear. Indeed, God will provide for us this time, too.
What does the verse at the beginning of this blog post, from the Book of Philippians, promise us when we come with gratitude to God with our requests? It promises that we will have:
“… the peace of God, which transcends all understanding …”
Does all this seem too much to get our minds around? Perhaps, but that’s the kind of powerful result we will see from praying through our fears with thanksgiving.
During all fearful and impossible situations, I challenge each of us, including myself, to live in the place of thanksgiving. Let’s see what God will produce in us to replace all our fears!
