Creator, Father, King #180

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

ANXIETY! STRESS! WORRY! FEAR! Strife! Trouble! Pain! Suffering!

Nobody wants to go through these things, but they are all an unfortunate part of life in a fallen world.

In yesterday’s devotion, we discussed how God lovingly desires to hear from his children when we are feeling burdened or enduring trials. Today’s Scripture is one of the Bible’s great passages in providing a road map to help believers walk through life’s challenges.

But questions linger. The passage says, “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” as we prayerfully offer our anxieties to the Lord. How, though, does this actually work? How does prayer translate into peace?

What’s It Mean?

Prayer isn’t sorcery. When we pray, our problems don’t magically evaporate. Prayer is also not like a retail transaction, where when we pray (payment) we should always expect to receive instantaneous peace (the paid-for item).

No, prayer is a God-given blessing and spiritual discipline of communicating with our heavenly Father. Prayer builds faith because it puts our trust in Someone greater than our problems and something more powerful than our circumstances.

Anxiety comes when we inaccurately view our troubles as existing outside God’s concern, power, or control. But when we recall the promises of Scripture, remember God’s holy character, and relinquish our anxieties to him “by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,” we begin to tap into heavenly peace.

Prayer brings peace because it

• reminds us how great God is and how dependent upon him we are;
• allows God’s Spirit to work in our lives;
• helps us release the tightfisted clench on life’s circumstances and give control to our omniscient, omnipotent Creator;
• helps “guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” when we think big thoughts of God and put our anxieties in their proper context in regard to God’s holiness, sovereignty, and love; and
• sanctifies us and makes us more like our Savior.

Are you struggling with anxiety, worries, and trials? God’s beautifully indescribable peace is waiting for you. Seek it today through humble prayer!

Now What?

Memorize Philippians 4:6-7. It will be a great help to you in times of trouble.

Did You Know?

Godly peace is not only an abiding, prayerful calmness and trust in the Lord during trials, as we discussed today; peace is also listed as a “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22. In other words, it’s a godly character trait.