Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
Believers are NOT to be anxious, instead we are to entrust ourselves and concerns into the hands of our loving heavenly Father. He is the God of peace and it is His peace that guards us in Christ Jesus. Because God is sovereign and in control we Christians can trust Him with ALL of our difficulties. He rules over ALL creation and He is wise and loving in all of His ways. So that we can have an inward peace, along with a heart of thanksgiving.
I spent a lot of my early years as a Christian, worrying and fretting over darn near everything. I’d close my eyes and pray, sometimes with tears running down my face and then open my eyes and my mouth and cancel out everything I just turned over to him in prayer. I was taking it all back with my words of worry. I felt defeated. I felt as though I just wasted His time and mine. Have you ever been there? I wanted so bad to believe but for some reason the struggle was real. I believe I found the answer to the struggle. God tells us in scripture, “if any lacks wisdom, let him ask and He will give liberally”, so I did. I asked, “why can’t I believe for what I am asking for?” The answer was pretty simple. I had created a habit of worrying, and complaining about things, people, the past, etc. I needed to create a new habit. So everytime anxiety or worry would return, I would pray again. Consistency started paying off. Little by little I began leaving things there with God in prayer, I quit taking them back, and if I spoke anything of that thing it was the Word of God over it. I was now creating a new habit, one that clearly was to my benefit. If you can worry, you can pray. It’s a process of trading one for the other. Anxiety for Peace, the kind that surpasses all understanding. We are told to meditate on things that are pure and lovely and of good report. Worrying is meditating on the wrong things. I started giving my worries to God when I finally realized I couldn’t do anything about them, but He could. All I was told to do was what I could and what I couldn’t He would. Worry paralyzes, prayer activates faith. Faith and fear do not co-exist. Bottom line; why pray if your going to worry and fret?
Bread and Water 