Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving ...

Nobody seems to need to teach us how to worry, it seems to come quite naturally! I was thinking about this this morning, as I was tempted to second-guess myself over some things that took place last night. The tendency I have had in the past to obsess over things, was threatening to raise its ugly head again. But I knew what to do. For a start, I needed to stop being anxious. Easier said than done I hear you say!

You cannot stop worrying by willpower alone, at least I cannot. I have to replace it with something. That’s what the “but” is all about in this quote from Philippians 4:6. The but indicates that we need to replace the worry with all kinds of prayer and supplication, and to do it with thanksgiving. I need to start with the thanksgiving. If I don’t do this, my prayer will likely not be in faith. So I remind myself of His Sovereignty by thanking Him that He is in control. I often go on to thank Him that He has promised to be actively at work in all things for my good (even the thing I am worrying about), because I love Him and I’m called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

For me then, when I catch myself worrying, the first thing I do is to seek to reconnect with Him in this way in prayer; to be thankful at the very least for the availability of His grace, and for my relationship with Him. And it is out of this, that I bring my requests (supplications) to Him. I then go on to claim the promise of the next verse, the promise that His peace will guard my heart and my mind. And as I do this for the relatively little things, it is all practice for me to be able to do it in the bigger trials.

Father, You are not a man that you should lie (Numbers 23:19), and I claim this promise of Your peace this morning. And I ask You to overrule anything that was said or done, or was not done last night. And I pray for Your kingdom to come, and Your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. And I thank You that I can leave the outcome to You in Jesus Name Amen