Megan Evans, Women’s Ministry Director, LHBC
Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
What if you could turn worry into peace? At any given moment, we can find ourselves thinking about loved ones, an illness, a job, finances, the future, the unsaved…the list goes on and on. God tells us in our key verse, “Don’t worry about anything,” but maybe you are like me; my head knows not to worry, but my heart has trouble living it out sometimes. What do we do with the concerns of our heart?
Let’s go back to our key verse and read it in its entirety. Notice what happens when we pray instead of worry. It says that we will experience God’s peace. What a sweet moment in scripture this is. The Almighty God is telling us that we can pray about anything. We are not a bother to Him. In fact, we are told to bring our needs to God and to remember all that He has done already. Communication with God in prayer is such an important part of our daily walk as we live in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 6:18 tells us to “pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion.”
It is interesting that our key verse says that when we pray, God’s peace will guard our hearts and minds. We need all of God’s spiritual armor every day (Ephesians 6:11). The enemy wants to take our eyes off God, but when we extinguish worry with God’s peace through prayer, we don’t give the devil a foothold in our heart and mind. God doesn’t want us in bondage to our worry, and Jesus is our freedom. Jesus tells us that he gives us peace that the world cannot give (John 14:27). We are human and that means our human brain will not default to peace without Christ. We need to take captive our thoughts and make them obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). Dressed in God’s Spiritual armor and mighty weapons, we fight the enemy and knock down mounting strongholds. In Christ we are victorious. We capture our worried thought and hand it over to Jesus. In victory, God gives us His peace and it guards and protects our heart. Who would think that all of this takes place when we pray instead of worry? God’s peace, as our key verse reminds us, exceeds anything we can understand. Will you use God’s battle plan to fight worry today? Turn worry into peace!
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Father, thank you for reminding me that I can pray to you about anything. As worries enter my thoughts today, may the Holy Spirit remind me to pray right then, turning worry into peace and trust in you. In Jesus Name, Amen.
MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK:
Psalm 84:10
For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.