A Prayer for Thankfulness When You Are Anxious
By Tiffany Thibault
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. - Philippians 4:6
Not a single day goes by when there is not some discouraging news, some concerning thought, some distressing information or some worrying reality. Struggle, expectations (real or imagined), obligations, responsibilities make up the reality of living in this world.
I love the words used in this Bible verse. It starts by telling us to “be anxious for nothing.” Nothing. We are not to be anxious about anything. That of course seems like such an impossible statement. For us to go through our days not being anxious seems a bit far-fetched, and even actually ludicrous!
This statement though, is absolutely not one of a brushing off, or ignoring our concerns. It's not a “don’t worry about it,” or “things always work out somehow” kind of statement.
This “be anxious for nothing” is actually a challenge that is being offered for those who dare try it out. It is a spiritual exercise that requires one to take every single fret, worry and stress and then lay it out before God in prayer. The Bible verse continues by telling us the secret to not being anxious. We are to take our requests to God in prayer and supplication. Supplication actually means to beg on your behalf or for someone else.
So often our prayers are ones of gently asking God for help, guidance, provision and healing. This verse tells us though, that we can BEG the very Creator of the Universe to work in our situations. We can pray and we can plead with the Lord for every single one of our anxiety causing problems. There is a battle going on for your heart, your mind and your soul. We must get bold in our prayers to win the battle against anxiety in all of our situations.
This verse throws in one word that doesn’t seem to belong. Thanksgiving. We are not to be anxious, we are to pray and beg for help from God and we are to do all of that while being thankful.
There is every reason to be thankful as we pray and beg God for help in every situation. Can you imagine going through these struggles without praying? Without God helping in any way? Sometimes when the storms are raging, I suddenly realize that I haven't turned to God for help. Thanksgiving overwhelms me as I realize that I do have help. There is someone that I can turn to. There is someone whom I can beg for help in every single situation. He has always been there, but He is just waiting for me to need Him.
Turn to the Lord with prayer and supplication, let thankfulness flood your heart and mind, pushing away those anxious thoughts as you keep your eyes on Him through everything. He may not remove the problem as you want. He may need you to learn something as you walk through these situations. Someday this storm will pass, but now you are spiritually ready for the next one, filled with thanksgiving because you have learned how to keep throwing your problem at the feet of Jesus, begging Him to take it and to deal with it. The more you hand over to Him, the more your heart and mind will relax, which then makes you less anxious because the situation is now in God’s hands. He will now guide, direct, change and remove as He deems best.
Dear Lord,
Thank you that you are here with me today. Thank you that nothing about my struggles surprises you. You are strong and able to change this difficult situation in my life. I beg you today to move, work, and change what is needed in my heart and life. This problem is taking my eyes off of you, it's flooding my heart with worry and fear. I need your help in this. I cannot do this without your intervention. I give this to you today.
Help me God today I pray.
Amen.
Tiffany Thibault enjoys living life with her husband, two teenage daughters and one very large dog. She is a homeschooling, healthnut mama, speaker and writer who loves to encourage others to grow closer to Jesus.
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