TURNING WORRIES INTO PRAYERS

 

August 3, 2023

 

Philippians 4:6-7

 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 

I WILL GUARD YOUR HEART AND MIND

 

We all worry. That is understandable, I believe. But for some of us, worry defines and dominates almost every waking thought. The word worry comes from an Old English term that means “strangle” or “choke.” That is what worry does. It chokes us. “Worry empties today of its strength.” (Greg Laurie)

Our passage today asks us to imagine being able to live with a peaceful, quiet mind. The text is saying to us that we need to turn our worries into prayers. We read above that in “every situation …. present your requests to God. And the peace of God will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

In Jesus, it is possible overcome the worry that can dominate of lives. The worry that can strangle and choke us. The promise before us is that we can be free from constant worry even in a world filled with many opportunities for fret and anxiety. God promises to protect, well “guard” our hearts and minds from worry.

Just consider what these verses are teaching. That God’s gift and his promise is to create space in our thought life, to peacefully think about other things beside situations that trouble us and cause us to fuss and stew. That is hard to imagine, isn’t it? That’s the promise God gives. You might say that it is a promise that "transcends all understanding."

REFLECT

What could you do with the extra time you spend in worry?

What are you worried about right now? Why not take a minute now to “present your requests to God”?